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A    BRIEF    EXPLICATION 


OF    THE 


PRINCIPAL    PROPHECIES 


OP 


DANIEL   AND  JOHN, 


AS  THEY  REGARD  THE  CHURCH  OF  GOD. 


TO    WHICH    IS    ADDED, 

AN    APPENDIX,   CONTAINING   AN    INaUIRY  INTO    THE 

PROPRIETY  OP  USING  AN  EVANGELICAL  PSALMODY 

IN   THE    WORSHIP  OF  GOD. 


BY 

SAMUEL*  RALSTON,  D.  D. 


PITTSBURGH: 

Published  for  the  author  by  Luke  Loomis,  Agent. 

1842. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1841,  by 
SAMUEL   RALSTON,   D.  D. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Western  District  of  Pennsylvania 


Printed  by  A.  Jaynes,— Franklin  Head,...Pittsburgh. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Symbols,             -         -         -         .         -      page  7 
The  Seals, 14 

CHAP.  II. 
The  Trumpets, 25 

CHAP.  III. 

The  Beasts, -  43 

The  Woman,  52 

The  Witnesses,     -         -         -         -         -         -  54 

CHAP.  IV. 

The  Vials,         -         - 65 

CHAP.  V. 

Miscellaneous  Observations,     .         ...         89 

CHAP.  VI. 

Prophecies  of  Daniel,       -         -         -         .         -     111 

CHAP.    VII. 
The  Millennium  yet  to  come,       -         -         -         135 

CHAP.  VIII. 
The  Millennium, 147 


IV  CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX. 

CHAP.  I. 

Human  Inventions  and  Human  Composure,      -         183 

CHAP.  n. 
Songs  of  Praise  in  the  Revelation  of  John,         -     195 

CHAP.  HI. 

Great  part  of  the  New  Testament  written  in 

verse, 215 


PREFACE. 


As  it  is  the  duty  of  preachers  of  the  gospel  and  minis- 
ters of  the  word,  to  furnish  their  minds  as  far  as  they  can, 
with  the  wliole  scheme  of  divine  revelation — the  propheti- 
cal, as  well  as  the  doctrinal  and  preceptive  parts — we 
have  accordingly  made  the  prophecies  an  occasional  part 
of  our  reading  and  studies,  for  a  number  of  years.  In 
order  to  this,  we  have  read  and  compared  not  only  the 
ancient  writers  on  this  subject,  as  Mede,  Lowman,  New- 
town, &c.  but  the  modern  writers  to  which  we  had  ac- 
cess. And  not  one  of  them  but  fully  satisfied  our  mind  in 
regard  to  the  fulfibnent  of  some  of  the  prophecies,  and 
thereby  furnishing  an  additional  proof,  that  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  are  a  divine  revelation;  yet  we  saw,  or 
thouo-ht  we  saw,  some  defect  in  their  several  schemes  of 
interpretation.  And  to  encourage  young  ministers  to  an 
occasional  study  of  this  highly  interesting  subject,  we 
would  remark,  that  what  appeared  dark,  defective,  or  in- 
conclusive in  one  writer,  was  elucidated  and  made  satis- 
factory by  another.  As  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  we  put 
together  the  interpretations  of  different  important  prophe- 
cies by  different  writers,  which  were  deemed  clear  and 
correct,  and  found  that,  if  not  altogether,  they  nearly 
agreed.  And  not  only  so,  but  they  quadrated  with  the 
prophetic  numbers  of  both  Daniel  and  John;  and  thus  a 
new  scheme  of  interpretation  in  some  instances  was  form- 
ed, and  which  the  reader  will  find  in  the  following  pages, 
with  some  new  interpretations  of  our  own. 

We  are  far  from  supposing  that  our  views  on  this  sub- 
ject  are  certainly  correct,  or  beyond  the  reach  of  objec- 
tion or  criticism;  but  we  thought  that  they  are  less  liable 
to  objection  than  any  system  which  we  have  perused,  else, 
we  would  not  have  obtruded  them  on  the  public.     They 


VI  PREFACE. 

were  published  in  numbers  in  the  Christian  Herald,  in 
Pittsburgh,  in  1831;  and  as  the  events  of  divine  Provi- 
dence since  that  time  have  not  contradicted,  but  rather 
strengthened  those  views,  we  have  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion to  re-publish  them  at  present,  with  some  considerable 
additions. 

The  principal  difficulty  of  studying  and  understand  in  o- 
the  prophecies,  arises  from  the  symbolical  or  figurative 
language  in  which  they  are  written;  and  to  read  or  study 
them  without  a  key  to  those  symbols,  is  labor  in  vain. 
To  obtain  this  key,  we  have  carefully  considered  those 
symbols  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,— and  from  the 
contexts,  and  the  drift  and  design  of  the  writers,  we  have 
at  length  arrived  at  what  we  think  is  their  literal  meanino-; 
and  they  are  now  presented  to  the  reader  in  alphabetical 
order,  with  a  reference  to  those  passages  where  we  think 
they  are  to  be  so  understood.  This  may  assist  the  young 
student,  and  somewhat  facilitate  his  inquiries.  Mr.  Faber 
has  indeed  given  us  a  definition  of  the  principal  symbols 
occurring  in  the  prophecies;  but  we  have  enlarged  the 
list;  and  to  understand  all  the  prophecies,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  enlarge  it  still  farther.  We  commit  this  little 
book  to  the  guidance  of  the  great  Head  of  the  church, 
for  the  promotion  of  whose  declarative  glory  it  was  writ- 
ten, praying,  that  he  will  graciously  forgive  whatever  in 
It  IS  wrong  or  amiss,  and  guide  the  reader  and  writer  into 
all  necessary  truth. 


A  BRIEF  EXPLICATION 


OP    THE    PRINCIPAL 


PROPHECIES  OF  DANIEL  AND  JOHN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

That  the  Apocalypse,  or  "Revelation" 
by  John,  usually  styled  the  "Divine,"  is  a  part 
of  the  canon  of  the  scriptures,  is  now^,  for  any 
thing  we  know  to  the  contrary,  universally  ad- 
mitted. That  it  contains  a  series  of  prophe- 
cies respecting  the  church  of  God,  from  the 
time  the  Revelation  was  given,  to  the  end  of 
time,  is  also  generally  admitted.  That  it  is  the 
duty  of  christians  to  read,  and  to  use  the  best 
means  for  understanding  those  prophecies,  is 
announced  in  the  introduction  to  the  book: — 
"Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear 
the  words  of  this  prophecy."  And  in  the  13th 
chapter,  men  of  understanding  are  invited  to 
count  the  number  of  the  Beast  mentioned  in 
that  chapter, — "and  which  came  out  of  the 
earth,  having  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  but  spake 
as  a  dragon,"  Hence,  then,  this  book  has  en- 
gaged the  attention  and  occupied  the  study  of 
men  of  knowledge  and  literature  in  every  age 
2 


8  THE    SYMBOLS. 

of  the  church ;  all  of  whom  have  shed  light, 
more  or  less,  on  this  ahstruse  part  of  the  New 
Testament — abstruse,  because,  like  other  scrip- 
ture-prophecies, it  is  wrapt  up  in  symbols  diffi- 
cult to  be  understood ;  and  perhaps,  because  it 
was  designed  that  it  should  not  be  fully  under- 
stood, until  facts,  or  the  events  of  divine  provi- 
dence, would  render  the  completion  evident. 

Tiie  latest  writers  on  this  subject  which  w^e 
have  seen,  are  Scott,  Faber,  Croly,  and  Keith, 
of  Great  Britain,  and  Reid  of  this  country,  and 
minister  of  the  gospel  at  Erie.  To  give  the 
reader  as  extensive  a  view  of  the  principal 
prophecies  of  Jolm,  as  will  comport  with  our 
plan,  we  will  review  their  respective  systems, 
or  interpretations;  show  wherein  they  agree 
and  disagree,  and  we  agree  with  any  of  them ; 
and  in  some  instances,  humbly  submit  an  in- 
terpretation differing  from  them  all.  And  as 
our  object  is  to  consider  the  principal  prophe- 
des  as  they  regard  the  church  in  the  seven 
seals,  the  seven  trumpets,  and  the  seven  vials, 
we  will  pass  over  the  first  five  chapters  as  being 
preparatory  only,  and  not  prophetical  of  the 
fortunes  of  the  church  at  large,  and  come  im- 
mediately to  the  consideration  of  the  seven 
seals  in  the  sixth  chapter.  But  before  we  do 
this,  w^e  will  present  the  reader  wath  our  pro- 
mised definition  of  the  different  symbols  that 
will  occur;  for,  as  observed  in  the  preface, 
without  some  definite  and  correct  knowledge 
of  these,  writing  and  reading  on  this  subject 
will  be  labor  in  vain.     And  it  may  be  also  ne- 


THE    SYMBOLS.  9 

cessary  previously  to  observe,  that  according 
to  Mr.  Faber,  "one  thing  or  person  may  be  re- 
presented by  different  symbols,  yet  a  symbol  is 
never  used  to  represent  two  persons  or  things, 
except  analogically,"  or  where  there  is  a  strik- 
ing analogy  between  those  persons  or  things. 
Thus,  for  instance,  the  church  and  state  con- 
sist of  rulers  and  the  ruled;  or,  in  other  words, 
neither  of  them  can  exist  w-ithout  officers  to 
direct  dieir  affairs;  and  accordingly,  as  we  shall 
find,  the  same  symbol  is  sometimes  used  to  de- 
note the  chief  ruler  in  both,  the  context  will 
generally  indicate  to  wliich  of  tiiem  it  refers. 
This  is  true  as  a  general  rule;  but  we  think 
that  in  the  course  of  our  examination  of  the 
prophetic  symbols,  we  have  met  with  some  ex- 
ceptions. 

Before  we  proceed  to  the  definition  of  the 
symbols,  it  may  be  farther  necessary  (o  ob- 
serve, that  writers  on  the  prophecies  generally 
use  the  words  symbol.,  emblem.,  and  type^  as 
synonymous  words,  or  as  importing  the  same 
idea.  If  this  is  not  altogether,  it  is  nearly  so; 
and  they  may  be  thus  defined,  signs,  or  repre- 
sentations of  some  moral  or  spiritual  things,  by 
some  natural  things,  founded  on  a  likeness  of 
some  property  or  properties  of  the  latter  to 
those  of  the  former.  We  had  the  privilege,  in 
common  with  others,  of  using  those  words  in- 
terchangeably, and  which  would  not  have  been 
so  grating  to  the  reader  as  the  frequent  recur- 
rence of  the  same  word  in  the  same  paragraph, 
and  sometimes  in  the  same  sentence.     But,  as 


10  THE    SYMBOLS. 

we  wish  to  be  understood,  and  the  introduction 
of  a  different  word  for  the  same  idea  might 
produce  confusion  and  obscurity  to  some  read- 
ers, we  have  most  generally  used  the  words 
symbol^  symbolical^  and  symbolize^  at  the  risk 
of  being  condemned  by  some  critical  readers.^ 

DEFINITIONS    OF    PROPHETICAL    SYMBOLS. 

1.  A  Beast^  is  the  symbol  of  an  idolatrous 
and  persecuting  empire,  or  power. — Daniel  7: 
2—11. 

2.  Beast ^  with  7  heads  and  10  horns,  sym- 
bolizes the  Roman  empire, — Papal.  The  7 
heads  denote  the  7  hills  on  which  Rome  is 
built;  and  the  JO  horns  the  10  kingdoms  into 
which  it  was  divided. — Rev.  13:1 — 7,  11,  14; 
and  19:8,  11. 

3.  City — 'The  holy  city'  symbolizes  the  true 
church. — Isaiah  52:1.  Rev.  11:2.  And  ana- 
logically, ''''The  great  city  of  Babylon'''  sym- 
bolizes the  Papal  church,  including  Rome,  the 
metropolis  of  that  ecclesiastical  empire. — Rev. 
16:19;  and  17:5. 

4.  Days — 1260  days  symbolizes  1260  years, 
a  day  for  a  year. — Ezekiel  4:4 — 7.     "Latter 

*  We  remember  to  have  seen  several  years  ago,  in  a  religious 
magazine,  a  distinction  made  between  an  emblem  and  a  symbol. 
According  to  the  writer,  an  emblem  is  the  sign  or  representation  of 
some  spiritual  thing  by  some  natural  thing,  which  has  a  real  exist, 
ence,  as  when  the  true  church  is  compared  to  a  woman  in  Song  1:8. 
But  a  symbol  is  the  same  representation  by  some  thing  that  has 
no  real  existence,  as  "a  Beast  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns;'* 
or,  "a  woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  with  the  moon  under  her  feet» 
and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars."  But  as  we  have  never 
seen  the  distinction  but  once,  and  the  writers  on  the  prophecies 
which  we  have  perused,  use  the  words  symbol  and  emblem  as  con- 
Tertible  terms,  we  have  adopted  their  practice. 


THE    SYMBOLS.  H 

days  or  times"  denote  the  reign  of  Popery  and 
Superstition. — 1  Tim.  4:1 — 3.  "Last  days," 
the  reigns  of  Atheism  and  InfideHty. — 2  Tim. 
3:1.     1  John  2:18. 

5.  Dragon,  symboHzes  the  devil — Rev.  12: 
3,  9;  and  analogically,  the  Roman  empire  in 
its  pagan  state,  prompted  by  the  devil  to  per- 
secute the  church  of  God.  The  7  heads, 
and  crowns  on  those  lieads,  denote  the  7  dif- 
ferent forms  of  government  which  that  empire 
assumed;  and  the  10  horns,  the  10  kingdoms 
into  which  it  was  finally  divided. — Rev.  12:3. 

6.  Earth,  is  the  symbol  of  an  universal  em- 
pire; the  Babylonian  empire — Jer.  51:7,  35; 
the  Roman  empire. — Rev.  14:3,  and  16:1,  2. 

7.  Earthquake,  symbolizes  an  empire  or 
kingdom  in  a  state  of  anarchy  and  revolution. 
Psalm  46:2.     Rev.  6:12,  and  16:18. 

8.  Grass,  is  the  symbol  of  children. — Job 
5:25.  "Green  grass,"  of  little  children. — Rev. 
9:4. 

9.  Hail,  mingled  with  fire  and  blood,  sym- 
bolizes a  great  destruction  of  human  beings. — 
Rev.  8:7. 

10.  Heaven,  is  the  symbol  of  the  visible 
church. — Matthew  11:11,  and  25:1.  Analogi- 
cally, it  symbolizes  a  state  or  empire. — Isaiah 
14:12. 

11.  Horn,  is  the  symbol  of  power,  strength, 
an  empire. — Dan,  7:8,  and  8:5. 

**^  12.  ^  horse  with  his  rider,  symbolizes  a 
conqueror,  and  conquest.    The  appearance  of 
the  rider,  and  the  color  of  the  hprse,  denote 
2* 


I2f  THE   SYMBOLS. 

the  nature  and  kind  of  the  conquest. — Rev.  6: 
2—8. 

13.  ^  Lamb,  is  the  symbol  of  humbleness^ 
and  meekness. — Isaiah  53:7.  "A  Lamb  as  it 
had  been  slain,"  symbolizes  atonement  by  sac- 
rifice.—Rev.  5:6.     1  Pet.  1:19. 

14.  A  Lion.,  is  the  symbol  of  strength. — 
Prov.  30:30.  "The  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Ju- 
dah,"  symbolizes  Christ  as  able  to  save. — Rev. 
5:5. 

15.  Locusts,  are  the  symbol  of  the  teachers 
of  false  doctrines. — Rev.  9:3. 

16.  Months — 42  prophetic  months,  30  days 
to  a  month,  and  a  day  for  a  year,  denote  1260 
years. — Rev.  11:2,  and  13:5. 

17.  Moon,  is  the  symbol  of  the  Jewish  dis- 
pensation.— Col.  2:16. 

18.  Ni^ht,  is  the  symbol  of  moral  darkness. 
Rom.  13:12. 

19.  Pit — "Bottomless  pit,"  the  symbol  of 
hell  itself— Rev.  20:1. 

20.  Rivers  and  fountains  of  water,  sym- 
bolize nations — Rev.  17:15.  And  nations  in  a 
state  of  peace  and  tranquillity. — Isaiah  41 :18, 
and  66:12. 

21.  Scorpions,  symbolize  those  who  reject 
the  divine  word  and  government,  and  instil 
those  venomous  and  wicked  principles  into 
others. — Ezek.  2:6.     Rev.  9:5. 

22. — Sea,  is  the  symbol  of  a  nation  in  a  state 
of  agitation  and  confusion. — Isaiah  52:20,  21. 
Dan.  7:2.     Jer.  71:42. 

23.  Serpents,  symbolize   crafty  and   mali- 


THE    SYMBOLS.  13 

cious  men,  who  infuse  poisonous  principles  in- 
to the  simple  and  unwary. — Matt.  23:33, 

24.  Smoke,  is  the  symbol  of  moral  dark- 
ness.— Rev.  9:3. 

25.  Sore,  symbolizes  the  punishment  of 
apostacy  and  moral  evil.— 2  Chron.  6:29.  Isa. 
1:6. 

26.  Star,  symbolizes  a  chief  ruler. — Isa.  14: 
12.  And  a  star  falhng  from  heaven  denotes  the 
declension  of  a  chief  ruler  in  the  church — Jude, 
13  V.  Rev.  9:1.  And  analogically,  an  apos- 
tate or  deposed  ruler  in  the  state. — isa.  14:2. 

27.  Sun,  is  the  symbol  of  God  as  the  foun- 
tain of  natural,  and  especially  of  moral  light 
and  life.— Psalm  84:11.     Mai.  4:2. 

28.  Sun  and  Moon,  when  conjoined,  would 
seem  to  symbolize  a  greater  and  lesser  degree 
of  moral  light.— Isaiah  60:19.     Song  6:10. 

29.  Sun,  Moon,  and  Stars,  when  conjoin- 
ed, analogically  symbolize  a  chief  ruler  in  the 
state,  with  his  subjects,  and  subordinate  magis- 
trates. And  for  these  to  be  blackened  or  dark- 
ened denotes  their  deposition. — Joel  2:10.  Rev. 
6:12.  They  also  analogically  symbolize  a  fa- 
ther, mother,  and  their  children. — Gen.  37:9. 

30.  Time,  in  prophetical  language,  is  the 
symbol  of  a  year;  times,  of  two  years;  and  the 
dividing  of  time,  half  of  a  year,  and  amount 
to  1260  years.— Dan.  7:25,  and  12:7. 

31.  lime  of  the  end,  the  termination  of  the 
1260  years,  the  dominant  reign  of  the  Man  of 
sin,  and  also  of  Mahometanism.— Dan.  8:19. 

32.  Trees,  symbolize  men. — Psalm  1:3. — 
Matt.  3:10. 


14  THE   SEALS. 

33.  Wilderness,  denotes  a  place  of  safety 
provided  for  the  persecuted. — Psalm  55:6,  7. 
Rev.  12:14. 

34.  Witnesses,  symbolize  the  testifiers  dur- 
ing the  dominant  reign  of  Papal  Rome  against 
her  idolatry  and  wickedness. — Rev.  21:3 — 12. 

35.  Woman,  symbolizes  the  true  church,  or 
the  spiritual  spouse  of  Christ. — Song  1:8.  Rev. 
12:1.  Woman  also  analogically  symbolizes 
the  apostate  church. — Rev.  17:4—6.  The  con- 
text indicates  the  difference. 

36.  Wormwood,  is  the  symbol  of  heretical 
doctrine.     Deut.  29:18.     Heb.  12:15. 

37.  Zion,  symbolizes  the  church  under  both 
the  Jewish  and  christian  dispensations  of  grace. 
Psalm  65:1.     Heb.  12:22. 

Keeping  these  definitions  and  explanations 
in  view,  we  will  now  examine  the  seals,  trum- 
pets, and  vials,  in  tlieir  consecutive  order,  as 
furnishing  us  with  a  prophetical  and  chrono- 
logical history  of  the  church,  from  the  days  of 
the  apostles  to  the  present  time. 

THE   SEALS. 

"And  I  saw  when  the  Lamb  opened  one  of 
the  seals,  and  I  heard,  as  it  were  the  voice  of 
thunder,  one  of  the  four  beasts  (or  living  crea- 
tures zo-on)  saying,  Come  and  see.  And  I  saw, 
and  behold,  a  white  horse;  and  he  that  sat  on 
him  had  a  bow;  and  a  crown  was  given  unto 
him;  and  he  went  forth  conquering, and  to  con- 
quer."— Chap.  6,  verses  1,  2. 

Faber  passes  over  this  and  the  other  seals,  as 
not  connected  with  the  remarks  he  designed  to 


THE    SEALS.  15 

make  on  the  Apocalypse;  his  principal  object 
being  to  ascertain  the  character  and  agency  of 
the  beasts  mentioned  in  the  following  chapters. 
Croly  explains  it  as  having  reference  to  the 
spiritual  conquests  of  Christianity,  from  the  time 
of  John  lo  the  reign  of  Constantino,  the  first 
christian  emperor.  This,  we  think,  is  too  ex- 
tensive; but  it  was  required  by  his  system,  as 
will  be  seen  in  our  future  observations.  Scott 
applies  it  to  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  the 
apostolic  age,  and  for  a  century  after.  Keith 
and  Reid  give  it  the  same  application.  And 
indeed  the  symbol  of  a  white  horse, — white, 
the  emblem  of  righteousness  and  purity, — is  a 
proof  that  he  that  sat  on  him,  was  Christ  him- 
self, and  that  his  conquests  were  of  a  mild, 
merciful  and  spiritual  kind.  And  that  they 
were  very  extensive  during  that  period,  may  be 
gathered  from  what  the  apostle  Paul  says  in 
his  episde  to  the  Colossians,  that  in  his  day, 
"the  gospel  was  preached  to  every  creature 
which  is  under  heaven,"  This  is  to  be  under- 
stood of  the  world  as  then  known:  and  Brown, 
in  his  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  has  evinced 
that  the  assertion  of  the  aposde  was  founded  on 
fact.  It  is  evident  from  that  useful  work  that 
he  was  deeply  versed  in  ancient  ecclesiastical 
history;  and  under  the  word  church,  he  in- 
forms us,  that  in  the  first  century  "churches 
were  planted  in  Arabia,  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  and 
Barbary,  to  the  South  and  West;  in  Chaldea, 
Mesopotamia,  Armenia,  Assyria,  and  Persia, 
to  the  East;  in  Phenecia,  Syria,  Lesser  Asia, 


16  THE    SEALS. 

Thrace,  Macedonia,  Greece,  Illjricum,  Italy, 
and  Spain,  to  the  North." 

The  second  seal  is  thus  introduced:  "And 
when  he  had  opened  the  second  seal,  I  heard 
the  second  living  creature  say,  Come  and  see. 
And  there  went  out  another  horse  that  was  red ; 
and  power  was  given  to  him  that  sat  thereon 
to  take  peace  from  the  earth,  and  that  they 
should  kill  one  another;  and  there  was  given 
to  him  a  great  sword." 

The  color  of  this  horse,  (the  color  of  blood,) 
denotes  a  time  and  scene  of  slaughter  and  de- 
vastation. Croly  applies  this  seal  to  the  slaugh- 
ter and  devastation  committed  bv  the  Goths 
under  Alaric,  when  th.ey  burst  into  the  Ro- 
man empire,  symbolized  by  the  "c^r///,"  after 
the  death  of  the  emperor  Theodosius,  who 
died  in  the  year  395.  This,  we  also  think, 
is  a  premature  application,  forced  upon  him 
by  the  other  parts  of  his  system.  Dr.  Scott, 
more  properly,  applies  this  seal  to  the  ter- 
rible massacres  committed  by  the  Romans  on 
the  Jews,  and  by  the  Jews  on  the  Romans, 
from  the  year  100  to  138.  Those  common 
enemies  of  the  christians  seem  to  have  been 
permitted  to  avenge  on  each  other  the  blood  of 
the  defenceless  christians,  which  they  wantonly 
shed  on  every  occasion  which  was  in  their 
power.  "Five  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
Jews,"  says  Scott,  "are  computed  to  have  been 
slaughtered  by  the  Romans  during  that  period; 
and  even  a  larger  number  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  seem  to  have  been  butchered  by  them 


THE   SEALS.  17 

in  the  most  barbarous  manner  imaginable." 
Keith  applies  this  seal  to  Mahomet  and  his  re- 
ligion, and  for  this  reason  only,  that  his  religion 
is  the  opposite  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  But 
besides  the  insufficiency  of  the  reason,  of  itself, 
it  is  a  violation  of  the  prophetic  chronology,  as 
Mahomet  did  not  appear  until  the  7th  century; 
and  as  we  will  show,  many  events  highly  inte- 
resting to  the  church  were  to  take  place  be- 
tween the  time  of  the  first  seal  and  that  period. 

Verses  5,  6:  "And  when  he  had  opened  the 
third  seal,  I  heard  the  third  living  creature  say. 
Come  and  see.  And  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  black 
horse;  and  he  that  sat  on  him  had  a  pair  of 
balances  in  his  hand.  And  I  heard  a  voice  in 
the  midst  of  the  four  living  creatures  say,  A 
measure  of  wheat  for  a  penny,  and  three  meas- 
ures of  barley  for  a  penny;  and  see  thou  hurt 
not  the  oil  and  the  wine." 

Compelled,  as  it  would  seem,  by  his  general 
system  of  interpretation,  Croly  interprets  the 
black  horse  as  the  symbol  of  mental  darkness^ 
or  ignorance;  and  because  the  Greek  word, 
zeugos^  signifies  a  yoke,  as  well  as  a  pair  of 
balances,  he  applies  this  seal  to  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  with  which  Pope  Gregory  the  first, 
loaded  the  church  after  the  year  533;  from 
which  time,  he  thinks,  we  are  to  date  the  rise 
of  the  beast  mentioned,  and  described  in  the 
13th  chapter.  Now,  although  we  think,  for 
reasons  to  be  mentioned  hereafter,  that  that 
year  was  the  year  in  which  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  becjuTie  the  '''Man  of  sin ^^"^  yet,  from  the 


18  THE   SEALS. 

symbol  of  the  black  horse,  and  the  price  of 
wheat  and  barley,  we  accede  to  the  opinion  of 
Dr.  Scott,  that  this  seal  had  reference  to  the 
famine  which  historians  tell  us  pervaded  the 
Roman  empire  from  the  year  158  to  193,  and 
some  say  much  longer.  Some  may  think  that 
if  a  measure  of  wheat  and  three  measures  of 
barley  were  sold  for  a  penny,  it  was  rather  a 
period  of  plenty,  than  of  want.  But  that  it  was 
a  time  of  distressing  want  will  be  evident  when 
it  is  considered,  that  the  ^^measure'''  alluded  to 
was  the  Roman  chcuriix^  the  usual  daily  allow- 
ance of  a  slave,  and  the  Roman  penny  (dena- 
rius) amounted  to  eight  or  nine  of  our  cents, 
and  was  the  usual  wages  of  a  laboring  man. 
The  introduction  of  a  pair  of  balances,  the  in- 
struments for  weighing  things  of  value,  confirm 
the  application  of  this  seal  by  Dr.  Scott;  and 
the  judgment  was  doubtless  sent  upon  the  Ro- 
man people  on  account  of  their  cruel  persecu- 
tion of  the  defenceless  christians,  prior  to  this 
period.  iMr.  Keith  gives  nearly  the  same  ap- 
plication to  this  seal,  as  is  given  by  Mr.  Croly, 
But  what  is  called  the  ^^dark  ages,^^  was  dis- 
tant some  centuries  from  this  period;  nor  was 
the  word  of  God  prohibited  to  the  people  at 
this  time,  the  prohibition  of  which  produced 
the  ''dark  ages,''^ 

Verses  7,  8:  "And  when  he  had  opened  the 
fourth  seal,  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  fourth  liv- 
ing creature  say.  Come  and  see.  And  behold 
a  pale  horse;  and  his  name  that  sat  on  him  was 
Death,  and  hell  followed  with  him;  and  power 


THE    SEALS.  19 

was  given  unto  them  over  the  fourth  part  of 
the  earth,  to  kill  with  the  sword,  and  with  hun- 
ger, and  with  death,  and  with  the  beasts  of  the 
earth," 

Strange  as  it  may  appear,  Croly  applie&  this 
seal  to  the  revolution  in  France  in  1789.  He 
understands  the  death  mentioned  in  this  seal 
in  a  figurative  sense,  as  symbolizing  the  moral 
corruption  of  the  French  revolutionists,  who 
declared  "that  death  was  an  eternal  sleep ;  that 
Christianity  was  an  imposture;  and  that  there 
was  no  God."  And  yet,  contrary  to  a  sound 
rule  of  interpretation,  laid  down  by  Faber,  of 
hot  understanding  the  same  word  figuratively 
and  literally  in  the  same  passage,  and  refer- 
ring to  the  same  thing,  he  explains  death  in 
this  seal  as  importing  not  only  moral  corrup- 
tion, but  the  loss  of  life  by  the  terrible  massa- 
cres that  took  place  during  that  revolution. 
Keith  applies  this  seal  to  the  prevalence  of  in- 
fidelity in  the  18th  century.  But  besides  the 
palpable  violation  of  the  prophet's  chronology, 
we  wonder  that  both  writers  did  not  see  the 
unhkeness  of  the  comment  to  the  text. 

Dr.  Scott  more  properly  applies  this  seal  to 
the  unheard  of  calamities  which  befel  the  Ro- 
man empire,  from  wars,  mutinies,  massacres, 
pestilence,  and  famine,  for  upwards  of  fifty 
years  before  the  reign  of  Dioclesian,  or  from 
the  year  153  to  270.  During  that  period  there 
were  upwards  of  twenty  emperors,  and  as 
many  usurpers  in  different  parts  of  the  empire. 
The  loss  of  human  life  in  their  wars  with  each 
3 


20  THE    SEALS. 

Other,  is  almost  incalculable.  To  this  was  ad- 
ded the  pestilence,  the  usual  attendant  on  fam- 
ine; and  hence  the  fitness  of  the  expression, 
that  death  and  the  grave  (Jiades)  followed  him 
that  rode  on  the  pale  horse.  Indeed,  the  de- 
struction must  have  been  great,  when  the  wild 
beasts,  as  it  seems,  took  possession  of  the  hous- 
es, and  the  survivors  were  under  the  necessity 
of  waging  war  against  them.  And  yet,  it  ap- 
pears from  the  following  seal,  that  the  perse- 
cution against  the  christians  was  as  cruel  and 
unrelenting  as  ever. 

Fifth  seal,  verses  9,  10,  11:  "And  when  he 
had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under  the  al- 
tar the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the 
word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they 
held:  and  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying. 
How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not 
judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell 
on  the  earth?  And  white  robes  were  given 
unto  every  one  of  them ;  and  it  was  said  unto 
them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  sea- 
son, until  their  fellow-servants  also  and  their 
brethren,  that  should  be  killed  as  they  were, 
should  be  fulfilled." 

As  was  to  be  expected,  from  the  interpreta- 
tion which  he  has  given  to  the  preceding  seals. 
Croly  applies  this  seal  to  the  present  day,  and 
the  rest  mentioned,  as  having  reference  to  the 
peace  which  has  been  enjoyed  in  Europe  for 
some  years  past,  for  facilitating  the  spread  of 
the  gospel.  Keith  understands  this  seal  as  a 
warning,  that  the  church  will  be  persecuted 


THE     SEALS.  21 

after  the  reign  of  infidelity.  Dr.  Scott  more 
justly  applies  it  to  the  persecution  which  the 
christians  experienced  under  the  reign  of  the 
emperor  Dioclesian,  which  lasted  ten  years, 
and  was  justly  and  emphatically  called,  "the 
era  of  martyrs."  It  may  not  he  amiss  to  ob- 
serve here,  that  the  vengeance  called  for,  im- 
ports only  retribution,  or  the  exercise  of  just 
judgment  on  those  who  had  wantonly  shed  the 
blood  of  the  saints  of  God.  The  white  robes 
given  unto  them,  denote  a  state  of  perfect  purity 
and  felicity;  and  their  crying  to  God  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  righteous  judgment  on  their  implaca- 
ble persecutors,  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the 
opinion  of  those  who  suppose  a  state  of  insen- 
sibility of  the  souls  of  the  dead,  until  the  re- 
surrection ;^  or  rather,  their  opinion  is  utterly  in- 
consistent with  this  passage. 

Sixth  seal,  verses  12 — 17:  "And  I  beheld 
when  he  had  opened  the  sixth  seal,  and  lo, 
there  was  a  great  earthquake ;  and  the  sun  be- 
came black  as  sackcloth  of  hair,  and  the  moon 
became  as  blood:  and  the  stars  of  heaven  fell 
unto  the  earth,  even  as  a  fig-tree  casteth  her 
untimely  figs,  when  she  is  shaken  of  a  mighty 
wind.  And  the  heaven  departed  as  a  scroll 
when  it  is  rolled  together;  and  every  moun- 
tain and  island  were  moved  out  of  their  places. 
And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men, 
and  the  rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and 
the  mighty  men,  and  every  bondman,  and  ev- 
ery freeman,  hid  themselves  in  the  dens  and  in 
the  rocks  of  the  mountains;  and  said  to  the 
mountains  and  rocks,  Fall  on  us,  and  hide  us 


22 


THE   SEALS. 


from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne, 
and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb:  for  the  great 
day  of  his  wrath  is  come ;  and  who  shall  be 
able  to  stand?" 

An  earthquake  is  the  symbol  of  a  nation  in 
a  state  of  convulsion  and  revolution ;  the  sun, 
of  the  prince,  or  potentate;  the  moon,  of  his 
subjects,  and  the  stars,  of  subordinate  rulers  or 
governors.  The  sun  becoming  black  as  sack- 
cloth of  hair,  and  the  moon  being  turned  into 
blood ;  the  stars  falling  from  heaven  to  earth ; 
the  heaven,  or  the  system  of  government,  de- 
parting as  a  rolled  up  scroll ;  the  mountains  and 
islands,  or  the  established  authorities  in  differ- 
ent and  distant  places,  being  moved  out  of 
their  places;  the  great,  the  rich,  and  the  mighty^ 
the  bond  and  the  free,  calling  upon  the  rocks 
to  fall  upon  them,  and  hide  them  from  the  com- 
ing wrath ;  all  these  strong  and  appalling  met- 
aphors, conspire  to  denote  a  revolution  and 
subversion  of  things  of  no  common  diaracter. 

As  was  to  be  expected  also,  Croly  applies 
this  seal  to  the  revolution  that  shall  take  place 
at  the  overturning  of  pagan  idolatry,  Mahom- 
etan delusions,  anti-christian  infidelity,  with  the 
superstition  of  the  "man  of  sin,"  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  millennium,  when  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  here  it  may 
be  necessary  to  observe,  in  explanation  of  Mr. 
Croly's  system,  that  he  considers  the  seven 
seals  as  including,  in  epitome,  the  whole  of 
John's  visions  respecting  the  church,  until  the 


THE    SEALS.  23 

commencement  of  the  millennium;  and  the 
7  trumpets  and  7  vials,  as  corresponding  pro- 
phecies, included  in  the  4th,  5th,  6th,  and 
7th  seals.  As  already  intimated,  although  we 
think  that  he  has  shed  some  important  light  on 
some  particular  prophecies,  yet  we  cannot  ac- 
cede to  his  general  system,  nor  to  his  particu- 
lar explanation  of  this  prophecy;  and  would 
therefore  observe,  that  we  agree  with  Scott, 
who  applies  it  to  the  revolution  which  took 
place  in  the  fourth  century,  when  Constantine 
the  Great  deposed  the  heathen  magistrates, 
overturned  the  heathen  temples,  altars,  and 
idols,  and  established  the  christian  religion  as 
the  rehgion  of  the  Roman  empire.  Whether 
Christianity  gained  or  suffered  by  this  establish- 
ment, is  not  our  business  here  to  inquire;  but 
when  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  revolution 
is  considered,  it  will  justify  the  number  and 
boldness  of  the  symbols  used  in  describing  this 
seal.  Keith  classes  the  fifth  and  sixth  seals  to- 
gether, and  gives  them  the  same  explanation. 

As  it  is  not  our  design  to  give  an  interpreta- 
tion of  all  the  chapters  in  the  revelation, 
but  only  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  inter- 
pretation given  by  Croly,  Faber,  Scott,  Keith, 
and  Reid,  (and  the  latter  occasionally  only,) 
to  the  seven  seals,  trumpets,  and  vials,  we  will 
pass  over  the  7th  chapter,  by  just  observing, 
that  it  seems  to  have  reference  to  the  tranquil 
state  of  the  church,  from  the  time  of  Constan- 
tine to  the  death  of  Theodosius.  Four  angels 
are  accordingly  represented  as  standing  on  the 
3* 


THE   SEALS. 


four  corners  of  the  earth,  holding  the  four 
winds,  that  they  should  not  blow  on  the  earth, 
nor  on  the  sea,  nor  on  any  tree,  until  the  ser- 
vants of  God  were  sealed  on  their  foreheads^ 
and  until  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand, 
probably  a  definite  for  an  indefinite  number, 
were  thus  sealed.  Mr.  Reid  thinks  (p.  99) 
that  this  sealing  "did  not  refer  to  baptism,  nor 
confirmation,  nor  the  sign  of  the  cross."  But 
why  should  it  not  refer  to  baptism?  Does  not 
the  apostle  say,  (Gal.  3:27,)  that  "as  many  as 
were  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ;" 
and  is  not  a  being  baptized  into  Christ,  that 
which  distinguishes  Christians  from  Pagans, 
Jews  and  Mahometans?  We  admit,  with  Mr. 
Reid,  that  it  had  reference  to  the  renewal  of 
the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  whereby  true  be- 
lievers are  'sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption;' 
but  that  it  had  also  reference  to  the  baptism  of 
water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  is  evident  to  ourselves,  not  only 
from  the  passage  in  the  Episde  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  but  also  from  what  Christ  says  in  John 
3:5 — "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water,  and  of 
the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God" — of  water  as  the  means,  and  the  Spirit 
as  the  agent  in  this  new  birth.  And  the  cir- 
cumstance, that  it  is  said  that  that  seal  was  put 
upon  their  foreheads^  is  to  ourselves  no  incon- 
siderable argument  that  the  water  is  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  forehead  of  the  subject  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  ordinance.  This  leads  us 
to  the  consideration  of  the  seventh  and  last 
seal ;  but  this  we  will  defer  to  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    TRUMPETS. 


In  the  last  chapter  we  reviewed  Scott's, 
Keith's,  and  Reid's  interpretation  of  the  first 
six  seals,  and  showed  which  of  these  interpre- 
tations are,  in  our  opinion,  most  consentaneous 
to  historical  facts.  The  seventh  and  last  seal 
now  claims  our  attention.  It  has  been  remark- 
ed by  writers  on  the  Apocalypse,  (what  indeed 
every  attentive  reader  of  these  prophecies  must 
have  observed,)  that  the  seventh  seal  contains 
the  seven  trumpets,  and  the  seventh  trumpet 
the  seven  vials.     Hence  then  we  are  told. 

Chap.  8:1-5,  "That  when  the  seventh  seal 
was  opened,  there  was  silence  in  heaven  about 
the  space  of  half  an  hour;  that  seven  trumpets 
were  given  to  seven  angels,  to  each  angel  a 
trumpet;  that  before  they  sounded  their  trum- 
pets, another  angel  came  and  stood  at  the  altar, 
having  a  golden  censer,  in  which  was  much  in- 
cense, that  he  should  offer  it  up  with  the  pray- 
ers of  all  saints  upon  the  golden  altar  which 
is  before  the  throne;  and  that  the  angel  took 
the  censer,  and  filled  it  with  fire  of  the  altar, 
and  cast  it  into  the  earth:  and  there  were 
voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and 
an  earthquake." 

We  have  seen  in  our  definition  of  the  sym- 
bols, that  heaven  is  the  symbol  of  the  church; 
and  analogically,  of  the  state;  and  in  which  of 


'26  THE    TRUMPETS. 

these  senses  we  are  to  understand  the  symbol, 
when  we  meet  with  it  in  the  prophetical  writ- 
ings, is  to  be  gathered  from  the  context,  and 
the  drift  and  design  of  the  writer.  It  would 
seem  that  the  church  was  meant  by  this  sym- 
bol in  this  place,  because  the  saints,  or  all  true 
believers,  are  represented  as  praying  on  the 
occasion;  and  because  an  angel  is  introduced 
as  standing  by  the  altar,  the  golden  altar,  with 
much  incense,  that  he  might  offer  it  up  with 
the  prayers  of  the  saints.  It  will,  we  think,  be 
admitted,  that  this  angel  was  no  other  than  Je- 
sus, 'nhe  angel  of  the  covenant;"  and  that  by 
the  incense,  we  are  to  understand  the  interces- 
sory merit  of  his  own  blood.  We  are  not  ex- 
pressly told  what  those  christians  prayed  for; 
but  there  is  scarcely  a  doubt  that  they  had  re- 
ference to  the  calamities  then  hanging  over  the 
Roman  empire,  from  the  threatened  invasion 
of  the  barbarous  nations  of  the  North.  But 
the  cup  of  the  iniquity  of  that  nation  was  then 
full;  and  accordingly  the  angel  took  the  cen- 
ser and  filled  it  with  fire  of  the  altar-fire,  the 
symbol  of  conflagration  and  destruction,  and 
cast  it  upon  the  earth,  the  Apocalyptic  symbol 
of  that  empire.  Upon  this,  (v.  7,)  ''The  first 
angel  sounded,  and  there  followed  hail  and 
fire,  mingled  with  blood,  and  they  were  cast 
upon  the  earth,  and  the  third  part  of  trees  was 
burnt  up,  and  all  green  grass  was  burnt  up." 

Mr.  Croly  understands  the  silence  mention- 
ed at  the  opening  of  the  7th  seal,  as  having 
reference  to  the  millennial  state  of  the  church. 


THE    TRUMPETS.  27 

to  be  consummated  in  heavenly  rest^nd  glory ; 
and  that  all  that  follows  in  regard  to  the  trum- 
pets and  vials,  is  only  a  repetition  and  enlarge- 
ment of  the  events  predicted  in  the  fourth,  fifth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  seals.  He  also  thinks  that 
the  trumpets  and  vials  refer  to  the  same  period 
of  time,  with  this  difference,  that  the  trumpets 
have  reference  to  the  political,  and  the  vials  to 
the  ecclesiastical  events  of  those  periods.  As 
already  observed,  although  we  think  that  he 
has  shed  some  important  light  on  some  partic- 
ular prophecies,  yet  we  cannot  subscribe  to 
the  above  interpretation  of  this  trumpet,  but 
rather  accede  to  the  opinion  of  Scott  and  Keith, 
that  it  has  reference  to  the  havoc  and  confla- 
grations committed  by  the  Goths,  under  their 
leader  Alaric,  after  the  death  of  the  emperor 
Theodosius,  in  395.  As  those  barbarians  came 
from  the  north  of  Europe,  and  passed  over  a 
great  part  of  the  Western  empire  with  uncom- 
mon rapidity  and  violence,  took  and  plunder- 
ed, and  burned  part  of  Rome  itself,  they  were 
fitly  symbolized  by  "hail  and  fire  mingled  with 
blood."  Historians  of  that  period  say,  that 
they  spared  neither  sex  nor  age.  Hence,  then, 
the  third  part  of  the  trees^  the  emblem  of  men, 
and  the  green  grass,  the  emblem  of  little  chil- 
dren, are  said  to  have  been  burnt  up.  After 
describing  their  ravages  in  the  Eastern  empire, 
Gibbon  says,  "Alaric  again  stretched  his  hand 
over  Italy.  During  four  years,  the  Goths  rav- 
aged and  reigned  over  it  without  control.  And 
in  the  pillage  and  fire  of  Rome,  the  streets 


28 


THE    TRUMPETS. 


were  filled  with  dead  bodies;  the  flames  con- 
sumed many  puhhc  and  private  buildings;  and 
the  ruins  of  a  palace  remained,  after  a  century 
and  a  half,  a  stately  monument  of  Gothic  con- 
flagration." Faber  applies  this  trumpet  not 
only  to  the  invasions  of  Alaric,  but  to  those  of 
Attila;  but  for  reasons  to  be  mentioned  hereaf- 
ter, we  think  that  it  is  to  be  confined  to  the  ra- 
vages of  Alaric  alone;  and  we  have  seen  that 
there  was  enough  in  his  character  and  ravages 
to  justify  the  symbols  and  language  of  this 
trumpet. 

Second  trumpet,  v.  8:  "The  second  trum- 
pet sounded,  and  as  it  were  a  great  mountain 
burning  with  fire  was  cast  into  the  sea:  and  the 
third  part  of  the  sea  became  blood ;  and  the 
third  part  of  the  creatures  which  were  in  the 
sea,  and  had  life,  died ;  and  the  third  part  of 
the  ships  were  destroyed." 

Croly  applies  this  trumpet  to  the  destruction 
of  the  Spanish  Armada^  in  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth of  England,  fitted  up  for  the  purpose  of 
subjugating  the  nation,  and  destroying  the  Pro- 
testant church.  Faber  and  Keith  apply  it  to 
the  state  of  Rome,  which  they  think  is  sym- 
bolized by  a  burning  mountain,  when  assault- 
ed and  captured  by  Genseric,  the  king  of  the 
Vandals,  in  455.  But,  as  Scott  has  justly  ob- 
served, it  is  the  destroyer,  and  not  the  destroy- 
ed, that  is  compared  to  a  burning  mountain; 
and  he  accordingly  applies  it  to  Attila,  the  king 
of  the  Huns,  who,  in  the  year  44.1,  attacked 
both  the  Eastern  and  Western  empires,  fitly 


THE    TRUMPETS.  29 

compared  to  the  sea^  on  account  of  the  confu- 
sion and  agitation  into  which  it  had  been 
thrown  by  the  ravages  of  Alaric.  Attila  called 
himself,  "the  scourge  of  God  and  the  terror  of 
mankind ;"  and  perhaps  no  man  ever  deserved 
the  title  better.  The  extent  and  character  of 
his  ravages  may  be  conceived  from  a  boast 
which  is  recorded  of  him,  ''that  the  grass  never 
grew  where  his  horse  had  trod."  And  Gibbon 
says  that  he  slew  in  one  battle  160,000  men, 
according  to  some  historians;  and  300,000, 
according  to  others. 

Third  trumpet, — v.  10,  11:  "And  the  third 
angel  sounded,  and  there  fell  a  great  star  from 
heaven,  burning  as  it  wet*e  a  lamp,  and  it  fell 
upon  the  third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the 
fountains  of  waters;  and  the  name  of  the  star 
is  called  Wormwood:  and  the  third  part  of  the 
waters  became  wormwood;  and  many  men 
died  of  the  waters,  because  they  were  made 
bitter," 

Croly  applies  this  trumpet,  and  its  alleged 
corresponding  vial,  to  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes  by  Lewis  XIV.  in  1585,  and 
the  war  that  ensued  from  that  cruel  and  wick- 
ed measure.  Faber  applies  it  to  the  overturn- 
ing of  the  Western  empire  under  Momyllus, 
called  in  derision  Augustulus,  by  Odoacer,  the 
king  of  the  Heruli.  This,  we  think,  falls  more 
properly  under  the  following  trumpet;  and  we 
agree  with  Scott  and  some  others,  that  this 
trumpet  has  reference  to  Geisseric,  the  king  of 
the  Vandals  and  Moors  in  Africa,  who,  in  the 


30  THE    TRUMPETS. 

year  455,  like  a  shooting  star,  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  arrived  in  the  mouth  of  the  Ti- 
ber, with  an  army  of  300,000  men,  attacked, 
carried,  and  for  14  days  pillaged  Rome  itself. 
This,  with  the  devastations  committed  by  the 
Goths  and  Huns,  under  the  preceding  trum- 
pets, so  weakened  the  Western  empire,  that  it 
was  easily  overturned,  as  will  be  seen  under 
the  following  trumpet. 

This  conqueror  and  ravager  is  called  Worm- 
wood^ not  so  much  because  he  assaulted  the 
"'rivers  and  fountains  of  water,"  or  the  Roman 
empire  while  in  a  state  of  peace  and  tranquil- 
lity, as  his  being  a  bigoted  Arian,  and  he  and 
his  followers  poisoning  the  doctrines  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  church  by  his  baneful  heresy; 
as  the  opinions  and  practices  of  potentates,  and 
persons  in  power,  always  have  a  strong  influence 
on  the  common  people,  for  good  or  for  evil. 
Hence  then  it  is  said,  that  those  "who  drank  of 
the  waters  died," — died  morally;  for  to  deny 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  is  virtually  to  deny  his 
divine  religion.  And  hence,  also,  it  is  said  of 
Genseric  that  he  shone,  not  as  a  lamp,  "but  as 
it  we7*e  a  lamp,  and  that  he  fell  from  heaven,  or 
the  church."  If  it  is  objected,  that  a  star  is  the 
symbol  of  a  minister  of  the  church,  and  a  fall- 
ing star,  of  a  heretical  minister;  but  Genseric 
was  a  king,  and  not  a  minister;  we  reply,  that 
kings  and  princes  are  also  compared  to  stars, 
(Isa.  14:12,)  and  although  nominally  christian, 
are  yet  deeply  heretical,  they  may  be  fitly 
compared  to  stars  falling  from  heaven,  or  the 


THE    TRUMPETS.  31 

church.  Keith  applies  this  trumpet  to  the  rav- 
ages of  Attila;  but  that  would  be  contrary  to 
the  best  chronology. 

Fourth  trumpet, — v.  12. — "And  the  fourth 
angel  sounded,  and  the  third  part  of  the  sun 
was  smitten,  and  the  third  part  of  the  moon, 
and  the  third  part  of  the  stars;  so  as  the  third 
part  of  th<3m  was  darkened,  and  the  day  shone 
not  for  a  third  part  of  it,  and  the  night  likewise." 

Croly  applies  this  trumpet  to  the  wars  of 
Xewis  XIV.  of  France,  which  commenced  in 
1689,  and  continued  22  years,  during  which 
great  changes  took  place  in  the  neighboring 
nations  afflicted  by  those  wars.  He  observes, 
that  Lewis  assumed  the  sun  as  the  emblem  of 
his  monarchy,  and  as  a  burning  sun,  scorch- 
ed the  contiguous  nations  and  states.  The 
reverse,  however,  was  finally  the  fact,  and 
France  was  almost  ruined  by  those  wars,  as 
Mr.  Croly  confesses  in  his  compendious  his- 
tory of  that  period,  appended  to  his  book.  Be- 
sides, the  text  says,  that  this  sun,  instead  of 
smiting  others,  was  himself  smitten  and  dark- 
ened. / 

Faber  thinks  that  this  trumpet  has  reference 
to  the  depressed  state  of  Rome,  and  of  the 
Western  empire,  after  the  deposition  of  the 
last  of  her  emperors,  and  the  eclipsed  state  of 
her  stars,  or  inferior  magistrates.  But  he  did 
not  reflect,  that  a  potentate  deposed,  exists  no 
longer  as  a  potentate;  and  that  magistrates  re- 
moved, are  no  longer  magistrates;  and  that, 
therefore,  there  is  no  propriety  in  saying  that 
4 


32  THE    TRUMPETS. 

they  were  eclipsed,  a  word  that  denotes  only 
a  diminution  of  political  power  and  splendor. 
We  agree  with  Scott,  which  is  also  the  in- 
terpretation of  Keith,  and  say,  that  this  trum- 
pet has  reference  to  the  actual  deposition  of 
Momyllus,  and  the  consequent  subversion  of 
the  VVestern  empire  by  Odoacer,  the  king  of 
the  Heruli,  in  the  year  476.  As  the  Roman 
empire  was  accounted  the  third  part  of  the 
world,  hence,  then,  the  expression,  "that  the 
third  part  of  the  sun,  and  of  the  moon,  and  of 
the  stars,  was  darkened."  If  it  is  said  that  the 
Eastern  part  of  that  empire  still  existed,  it  was, 
however,  reduced  to  feebleness  by  the  incur- 
sions and  ravages  of  the  barbarous  nations  of 
the  North,  and  existed  by  the  aid  of  the  West- 
ern, the  original  of  that  colossal  government; 
for  in  fact  there  were  not  two  empires,  but  one, 
administered  sometimes  by  one,  and  at  other 
times  by  two  or  more  emperors  in  different 
parts  of  the  empire. 

The  reader  will  have  observed,  that  al- 
though the  same  symbols,  "the  sun,  moon  and 
stars,  smitten  and  darkened,"  are  used  in  de- 
scribing the  overturning  of  the  empire,  by 
Constantino  and  Odoacer,  yet  the  many  appal- 
ling circumstances  mentioned  in  the  overturn- 
ing of  it  by  the  one  are  not  adduced,  as  attend- 
ing the  overturning  of  it  by  the  other.  At  the 
first  overthrow,  paganism  had  been  establish- 
ed in  the  empire  for  upwards  of  600  years. 
Her  chief  rulers,  and  the  inferior  magistrates, 
with  the  mass  of  the  people,  were  pagans,  a 


THE    TRUMPETS.  33 

few  defenceless  and  persecuted  christians  ex- 
cepted. Besides,  there  was  a  numerous,  weal- 
thy and  powerful  priesthood,  who  had  an  al- 
most unlimited  influence  over  the  people.  The 
consternation,  confusion  and  distraction  pro- 
duced by  the  removal  of  these  from  office,  is 
almost  inconceivable,  and,  as  has  been  observ- 
ed, justified  the  strong  and  appalling  figures 
employed  in  describing  that  revolution  and 
overthrow.  But,  at  the  last  revolution  and 
overthrow,  the  empire  had  been  weakened  and 
reduced  to  great  feebleness  and  decrepitude 
by  the  incursions  and  ravages  of  the  barba- 
rians from  the  North,  and  the  Vandals  from 
Africa;  and,  therefore,  it  is  only  said  "that  the 
third  part  of  the  sun  was  smitten,  and  the  third 
part  of  the  moon,  and  the  third  part  of  the 
stars;"  or,  the  whole  frame  of  the  government 
was  unhinged  and  overthrown ;  so  appropriate 
and  concise  is  the  language  of  the  pages  of 
inspiration,  whether  literal  or  figurative.  And 
here  it  may  not  be  unnecessary  to  observe,  that 
although  Bishop  Newton,  Scott,  Faber,  and 
some  others,  differ  somewhat  in  their  applica- 
tion of  the  four  preceding  trumpets  to  the 
events  from  the  days  of  Constantine,  to  the 
time  of  Odoacer,  yet  they  all  agree,  that  those 
trumpets  have  reference  to  the  subversion  of 
the  Western  empire,  as  a  necessary  preparation 
for  the  rise  and  development  of  the  person,  or 
power,  styled  by  Paul,  "the  man  of  sin  and 
the  son  of  perdition."  2  Thess.  2:3-12. 
But  woful  as  the  preceding  trumpets  v^erc 


34  THE    TRUMPETS, 

to  the  inhabitants  of  the  now  dissolved  West- 
ern empire,  they  were  comparatively  mild  to 
the  woes  to  be  inflicted  by  the  three  remaining 
trumpets.  Accordingly,  before  the  fifth  angel 
sounded,  an  angel  is  introduced  in  the  close  of 
this  chapter,  as  "flying  through  the  midst  of 
heaven,"  or  the  church,  "saying  with  a  loud 
voice,  Wo,  wo,  wo,  to  the  inhabiters  of  the 
earth,  by  reason  of  the  voices  of  the  trumpets 
of  the  three  angels,  which  are  yet  to  sound." 

Fifth  trumpet,  ch.  9,  v.  1-1]. --"And  the  fifth 
angel  sounded,  and  I  saw  a  star  fall  from  heav- 
en unto  the  earth:  and  to  him  was  given  the 
key  of  the  bottomless  pit.  And  he  opened  the 
bottomless  pit;  and  there  arose  a  smoke  out  of 
the  pit,  as  the  smoke  out  of  a  great  furnace ; 
and  the  sun  and  the  air  were  darkened  by  rea- 
son of  the  smoke  of  the  pit.  And  there  came 
out  of  the  smoke  locusts  upon  the  earth:  and 
unto  them  was  given  power,  as  the  scorpions  of 
the  earth  have  power.  And  it  was  command- 
ed them  that  they  should  not  hurt  the  grass  of 
the  earth,  neither  any  green  thing,  nor  any 
tree;  but  only  those  men  which  have  not  the 
seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads.  And  to  them 
was  given  that  they  should  not  kill  them,  but 
that  they  should  be  tormented  five  months: 
and  their  torment  was  as  a  scorpion,  when  he 
striketh  a  man,"  Slc. 

Croly  applies  this  trumpet  to  the  French 
revolution,  and  its  corresponding  vial,  to  the 
seizure  of  the  Roman  empire  during  that  revo- 
lution,    Keith  and  Reid  apply  it  to   the  rise 


THE    TRUMPETS.  35 

and  progress  of  Mahometanism ;  and  Reid 
supposes  that  the  star  which  fell  from  heaven 
to  the  earth  when  this  trumpet  sounded,  was 
the  impostor  Mahomet.  But  this  is  ineonsist- 
ent  with  the  Apocalyptic  symbols;  for  Ma- 
homet, at  his  rise,  was  not  a  star  in  either 
church  or  state.  Faber  thinks  that  this  star 
symbolized  the  apostate  monk  Sergius,  who 
assisted  Mahomet  in  framing  his  imposture. 
Scott  justly  observes,  on  this  trumpet,  "that  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  so  important  a  part, 
according  to  the  general  style  and  manner  of 
prophecy,  would  be  assigned  to  so  obscure  an 
individual,  whose  name  few,  except  those  who 
have  studied  Mahomet's  history,  have  so  much 
as  heard  of"  Hence,  then,  he  is  inclined  to 
apply  the  fallen  star  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
whose  mystery  of  iniquity  had  been  long  work- 
ing, but  burst  forth  at  almost  the  same  time 
with  the  imposture  of  Mahomet,  about  the 
year  606.  Had  Dr.  Scott  fixed  upon  the  year 
533  as  the  time  when  the  Bishop  of  Rome  be- 
came "the  Man  of  sin,"  as  we  hope  to  make 
appear,  instead  of  the  year  606,  when  Maho- 
met retired  to  his  cave  for  the  purpose  of  fram- 
ing his  imposture,  he  might,  with  greater  pro- 
priety, have  fixed  upon  him  as  the  star  that  fell 
from  heaven  under  this  trumpet.  In  that  year, 
as  we  shall  show  by  a  document  to  which  Cath- 
olics themselves  cannot  object,  Justinian,  the 
Emperor  of  the  East,  conferred,  and  John, 
Bishop  of  Rome,  accepted  the  tide  of  "  Head 

of  the  Church^'*^  and  "Head  over  all  the  holy 

4* 


36  THE    TRUMPETS. 

churches."     The   headship    of  the  Western 
churches,  had  indeed   been  conferred  on  the 
incumbent  Bishop  of  Rome  by  the  Emperors 
Gratiam  and  Valentinian,  previous  to  this;  but 
the  grant   of  Justinian,  now   sole   Emperor, 
made  him  head  over  all  tiie  churches  in  the 
world.     The  acceptance  of  this  blasphemous 
title  was  a  daring  usurpation  of  the  preroga- 
tive of  Christ,  made  him  a  fallen  star,  and  "  the 
Man  of  sin;''''  and  as  the  apostle  says,  in  re- 
ference to  this  subject,  2  Thess.  2:11,  pro-voked 
God  to  send  him  and  the  churches  over  which 
he  presided,  "strong  delusions,  that  they  should 
believe  a  lie."     The  church  was  indeed  in  a 
declining  state  at  this  time,  but  still  her  creed 
was   comparatively  sound,  and    her  worship 
simple.     But  ecclesiastical  historians  tell   us, 
that  from  this  period,  the  reigning  Bishops  or 
Popes  introduced  such  a  multitude  of  supersti- 
tious rites,  one  after  another,  as  diverted  the 
minds  of  the  people  from  scriptural  knowledge 
and  vital  religion.     This,  and  this  alone,  can 
account  for  the  ready  reception  which  the  im- 
posture of  Mahomet  met  with  70  or  80  years 
after  this  period.     Had  the  church  been  left  to 
collect  her  creed  from  the  word  of  God  alone, 
this  could  not  have  happened;  and  had  Maho- 
met, and  "the  Man  of  sin,"  arisen  at  the  same 
time,  this  would  not  have  taken  place,  as  every 
effect  must  have  an  adequate  cause,  and  the 
process  of  mental  and   moral  debasement  is 
always  gradual.     The  mind  that  was  not  en- 
feebled and  debased  by  the  belief  that  religion 


THE    TRUMPETS.  37 

consisted  in  the  observance  of  superstitious 
rites  and  ceremonies,  would  have  revolted  at 
the  gross  absurdities  and  monstrous  lies  of  Ma- 
hometanism,  when  proposed  for  reception ;  but 
the  reverse  was  the  melancholy  fact ;  and  the 
reigning  Popes,  by  their  debasing  the  public 
mind,  opened  the  bottomless  pit  whence  issued 
the  Saracenic  locusts  that  swept  the  Eastern 
churches,  and  vexed  the  earth,  wherever  they 
went.  We  cannot  conceive  of  any  means 
more  unhappily  calculated  to  produce  this  state 
of  mind;  for  observation  and  experience  have 
shown  that  in  proportion  as  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies have  increased  in  the  church,  scriptural 
knowledge  and  true  rehgion  have  decreased.. 
And  hence  the  disuse  of  the  scriptures  after 
this  time,  and  the  worship  of  saints  and  angels 
in  the  following  century.  The  pure  word  of 
God,  laid  up  in  the  mind,  could  alone  have  dis- 
sipated "the  smoke,"  or  the  deleterious  mental 
and  moral  darkness  that  prepared  the  way  for 
the  promulgation  and  reception  of  the  Mahom- 
etan imposture.* 

*Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan,  in  his  ^'■Christian  Researches  in,  Asia,^'' 
p.  104,  mentions  another  circumstance  which  doubtless  had  con- 
siderable effect  in  producing  that  ready  reception  which  Mahomet- 
anism  met  with  in  the  Eastern  churches.  Speaking  of  that  delu- 
sion  he  observes,  "that  it  is  aptly  compared  in  the  prophecy  con- 
cerning it,  '  to  a  smoke  issuing  from  the  bottomless  pit,'  and  its 
great  extent  is  expressed  by  its  darkening  the  sun  and  the  air.  And 
since  this  defection  was  to  be  produced  by  a  corruption  of  revealed 
truth,  it  wa&  necessary  that  tlie  seriptaires  should  be  first,  corrupted; 
for  where  the  genuine  scriptures  are  in  the  hands  of  men,  there  is 
little  Infidelity.  Accordingly  this  great  preparative  for  the  impos. 
ture  took  place  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  During  that  period, 
corrupt  and  Apocryphal  gospels  prevailed  so  generally  in  Arabia 
and  in  the  neighboring  regions,  that  it  is  even  doubtful  whether 
Mahomet  himself  ever  saw  a  genuine  copy  of  the  New  Testament." 


38  THE    TRUiMPETS. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said  that  our  views  on  this 
subject  wouid  seem  to  be  not  in  accordance 
with  the  character  of  Gregory  ]  st,  successor  of 
John  in  590,  and  who  strongly  condemned  the 
Bishop  of  Constantinople  for  assuming  the  tide 
of  "the  Head  of  the  Church,"  and  pronounced 
it  "  the  badge  of  Antichrist."  But  Milner  in 
his  Church  History,  although  a  great  admirer 
of  Gregory,  yet  acknowledges  more  than  once, 
that,  notwithstanding  his  condemnation  of  the 
Bishop  of  Constantinople,  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  speaking  of  the  See  of  Rome,  or  "  the  See 
of  St.  Peter,"  as  he  called  it,  as  superior  to  and 
entitled  to  precedency  above  any  other  See  in 
the  church;  and,  although  Gregory  may  not 
have  assumed  the  title  as  conferred  by  Justin- 
ian, it  is  well  known  that  his  successors  have 
both  claimed  and  assumed  it  down  to  the  pre- 
sent day.  And,  although  he  seems  to  have 
been  a  pious  man,  as  far  as  a  superstitious  man 
can  be  pious,  he  is  yet  justly  condemned  by 
ecclesiastical  historians  for  inventing  and  im- 
posing a  number  of  superstitions  on  the  church, 
and  thus  aided  in  opening  the  bottomless  pit 
for  the  eruption  of  the  Saracenic  or  Arabian 
locusts  and  scorpions,  the  effect  of  whose  reli- 
gion was  as  deadly  to  the  soul  as  the  sting  of  a 
scorpion  to  the  body. 

But  whether  the  monk  Sergius  or  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  was  the  fallen  star,  there  is  no  doubt, 
but  that  this  and  the  following  trumpet  have 
reference  to  the  rise  and  progress  of  Mahomet- 
anism,  and  the  miseries,  temporal  and  moral, 


THE    TRUMPETS.  39 

which  it  inflicted  on  a  corrupted  church.  Mr. 
Croly  indeed  excludes  it  altogether  from  his 
scheme  of  interpretation,  and  this  was  one  rea- 
son why  we  rejected  it  as  a  general  system,  as 
soon  as  we  read  it,  for  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  an  imposture  that  had  such  a  baleful  influ- 
ence on  the  church  of  God  would  not  be  a  sub- 
ject of  prophecy  by  John,  as  well  as  Daniel,  as 
we  will  hereafter  show.  Besides,  the  descrip- 
tion given  of  the  armies  of  this  Apollyon,  or 
destroyer;  their  number  as  locusts;  the  heads 
of  their  horses  resembhng  the  heads  of  locusts; 
their  riders  having  on  their  heads,  as  it  were, 
crowns  of  gold; — an  allusion  to  the  turbans 
which  they  wore  on  their  heads ; — their  faces  as 
the  faces  of  men,  but  their  hair  as  the  hair  of 
women;  an  allusion  also  to  their  wearing  their 
hair  long  as  women  do — all  these  circumstan- 
ces have  been  shown  by  several  writers  to  agree 
exactly  with  the  appearance  of  the  Saracenic 
armies  under  Mahomet  and  his  successors.  To 
this  may  be  added,  that  their  ravages  and  suc- 
cess were  to  be  confined  to  5  prophetic  months, 
or  150  years,  and  this  was  literally  the  fact, 
They  began  their  incursions  in  612,  and  settled 
down  on  their  conquests  by  the  building  of 
Bagdad  in  762 ;  so  exactly  did  the  event  cor- 
respond wath  the  prediction. 

Sixth  trumpet, — v.  13 — 19:  "And  the  sixth 
angel  sounded,  and  I  heard  a  voice  from  the 
horns  of  the  altar  which  is  before  God,  saying 
to  the  sixth  angel  which  had  the  trumpet.  Loose 
the  four  angels  which  are  bound  in  the  great 


40  THE    TRUMPETS. 

river  Euphrates.  And  the  four  angels  were 
loosed,  which  were  prepared  for  an  hour,  and  a 
day,  and  a  month,  and  a  year,  for  to  slay  die 
third  part  of  men." 

Croly  appUes  the  predictions  of  this  trumpet 
to  the  overthrow  of  the  infidel  republic  of 
France  by  the  combined  armies  of  England, 
Austria,  and  Prussia.  His  bringing  these  ar- 
mies from  the  Euphrates,  is  very  obscure,  per- 
plexed and  unsatisfactory,  as  might  be  expected. 
Besides,  it  was  not  the  republic  but  the  empire 
of  France  which  was  then  nominally  Christian, 
and  not  infidel,  that  those  combined  armies 
overthrew.  Newton,  Scott,  Faber  and  others 
which  we  have  read,  apply  this  trumpet  to  the 
irruption  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  into  the  Eastern 
empire  in  1281,  and  which  they  finally  totally 
subverted  by  the  capture  of  Constantinople, 
which  they  hold  until  this  day.  They  consist- 
ed originally  of  four  sultanies  or  tribes  inhabit- 
ing the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  and  were  con- 
fined there  by  the  European  crusades  which 
began  in  1297,  and  lasted  nearly  200  years. 
But  when  the  crusades  to  recover  Jerusalem 
and  Palestine  ceased,  they  burst  forth,  saith  the 
trumpet,  with  an  army  of  200,000  horsemen — 
a  definite  for  a  very  large  indefinite  number — 
swept  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  Eastern,  and 
part  of  the  Western  empire.  In  the  19th  verse, 
their  horses  are  depicted  as  having  "the  heads 
of  lions,"  strong  and  courageous,  and  that  "out 
of  their  mouths  issued  fire,  and  smoke,  and 
brimstone,^^     This  is  usually  explained  as  hav- 


THE    TRUMPETS.  41 

ing  reference  to  their  using  artillery  in  their 
battles  and  sieges,  which,  with  the  use  of  gun- 
powder, was  invented  about  that  time;  and  it 
is  said  that  in  their  last  siege  of  Constantino- 
ple, they  had  a  cannon  that  received  a  stone 
ball  w^eighing  300  lbs.  Like  their  predeces- 
sors, the  Saracens,  they  were  and  are  bigoted 
Mahometans,  and  poisoned  by  their  doctrine 
the  churches  of  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe;  in 
consequence  of  which  they  are  compared  in 
the  19th  verse  to  "serpents  who  have  poison  in 
their  mouths,  and  stings  in  their  tails."  The 
ravages  and  success  of  the  Saracens  were  to 
continue  for  5  prophetic  months,  or  150  years, 
when  they  sat  down  in  quiet  possession  of  their 
conquests,  until  dispossessed  by  their  more 
powerful  invaders,  the  Turks.  The  success  of 
these  was  to  continue  for  "  an  hour,  a  day,  a 
month  and  a  year,"  or  391  years,  with  a  frac- 
tion, when  they  were  to  decline,  until  their  gov- 
ernment and  imposture  would  come  to  an  end. 
Newton,  Scott,  Keith  and  Faber,  have  shown 
that  the  fi)rmer  part  of  the  prediction  has  been 
exactly  fulfilled,  and  we  trust  that  we  will  show 
that  the  latter  part  of  it  is  a  fulfilling  at  this 
day.  The  first  conquest  of  the  Turks  over  the 
Christians  was,  their  taking  the  city  of  Cuta- 
hi  in  1281,  and  their  last  conquest  was  their 
taking  the  city  of  Cameniec  in  1672,  the  inter- 
val between  which  dates  is  391.  Since  that 
time  they  have  been  rather  unsuccessful  in  all 
their  wars,  and,  from  present  appearances,  their 
empire  is  not  far  from  dissolution. 


42     *  THE   TRUMPETS. 

To  this  we  would  just  add,  that  the  predic- 
tion in  the  close  of  the  chapter  respecting  the 
Christians  in  the  Western  empire,  who  had  es- 
caped the  murders  and  ravages  of  the  Turks, 
has  been  lamentably  fulfilled — "that  they  have 
not  repented  of  the  works  of  their  hands;  that 
they  should  not  worship  devils,  [daemons,  or 
dead  men,]  and  idols  of  gold,  and  silver,  and 
brass,  and  stone,  and  of  wood,  which  can 
neither  see,  nor  hear,  nor  speak."  There  are 
other  events  of  high  importance,  in  regard  to 
the  church  of  God,  which  were  to  take  place, 
and  which  we  trust  we  will  show  have  taken 
place  under  this  trumpet;  but  this  we  will  defer 
to  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    BEASTS THE    WOMAN THE    WITNESSES. 

We  closed  the  last  chapter  by  observing, 
that  besides  the  rise,  progress,  and  prevalence 
of  Mahometanism,  some  other  events  highly  in- 
teresting to  the  church  of  God,  are  clearly  pre- 
dicted under  the  sixth  trumpet,  and  to  point  out 
and  explain  these  is  our  design  in  this  chapter. 
For  this  purpose,  it  will  be  necessary  to  inquire 
into  the  character  of  the  symbohcal  beasts 
mentioned  in  the  11th,  12th,  13th,  and  14th 
chapters;  because,  as  will  be  seen,  they  had  a 
mighty  agency  in  producing  those  events. 

The  first  of  these  agents  is  the  Dragon,  a 
bold,  fierce  and  cruel  serpent,  and  which  is 
called  the  devil,  or  is  a  symbol  of  the  devil  and 
of  cruel  idolaters,  Ezek.  29:3;  and  is,  more- 
over, the  unrelenting  enemy  of  the  symbolical 
woman,  the  church.  He  is  first  mentioned  in 
ihe  12th  chapter,  3d  verse,  and  characterized 
as  "having  7  heads  and  10  horns,  and  having 
7  crowns  upon  those  heads;"  and  in  the  13th 
chapter,  to  have  given  to  a  beast,  with  7  heads 
and  10  horns  also,  but  crowns  upon  those  horns, 
"his  power  and  seat,  and  great  authority." 
Scott,  Croly,  and  Newton  understand  by  the 
first  of  these  monsters,  the  Roman  empire 
while  Pagan,  instigated  by  the  devil  to  perse- 
cute "  the  woman,"  and  was  consequently  a 
5 


44  THE   BEASTS. 

fit  symbol  of  that  empire.  This,  however,  is 
strongly  denied  by  Faber,  who  says  that  by  the 
dragon  we  are  to  understand  the  devil  only,  as 
the  instigator  of  others  to  persecute  the  church. 
But  it  is  asked,  with  some  degree  of  wonder, 
why  is  the  devil  described  in  this  passage  as 
having  7  heads  and  10  horns,  and  7  crowns  on 
those  heads?  There  is  nothing  like  this  in  any 
other  passage  in  the  Bible,  where  the  devil  is 
mentioned  or  introduced,  nor  do  we  remember 
any  thing  said  of  him  in  the  scriptures  that 
would  justify  the  propriety  of  such  a  descrip- 
tion. But  this  description  is  properly  and  per- 
fectly suited  to  the  Roman  empire  which  had 
7  different  forms  of  government,  symbolized  by 
the  7  heads,  and  crowns  on  those  heads,  and 
which  was  divided  into  10  kingdoms  symbol- 
ized by  10  horns.  For  these,  and  some  other 
reasons  which  might  be  mentioned,  we  also 
consider  the  dragon  in  this  passage  as  not  only 
the  symbol  of  the  devil,  the  father  of  idolatry, 
but  as  analogically  the  symbol  of  the  Roman 
empire,  noted  for  its  idolatry  in  both  its  Pagan 
and  Papal  form.  It  is  said  of  the  R(  mans 
that  they  had  no  less  than  30,000  gods.  Why 
Mr.  Faber  has  given  the  above  interpretation 
to  this  passage,  may  appear  hereafter. 

In  the  13th  chapter,  v.  1 — 8,  John  also  tells 
us,  "that  he  saw  a  beast,  (therion^)  or  a  wild 
beast,  rising  up  out  of  the  sea,  having  also  7 
heads  and  10  horns,  and  upon  his  horns  10 
crowns,  and  upon  his  heads  the  name,  or 
names  of  blasphemy."  That  there  was  given 
to  him  a  mouth  speaking  great  things  and  bias- 


THE  BEASTS.  45 

phernics,  and  power  to  continue  4'2  prophetic 
months,  or  TiGO  years;  liiat  to  him  was  given 
to  make  war  with  the  saints,  and  to  overcome 
them;  that  power  was  given  unto  him  over 
kindreds,  tongues  and  people ;  and  that  ail  who 
dwell  upon  the  earth  should  worship  him, 
whose  names  are  nol  written  in  the  book  of 
life  of  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world." 

We  agree  with  Newton  and  Scott  that  this 
blasphemous  and  persecuting  beast,  or  power, 
can  be  no  other  than  the  Roman  empire  when 
divided  into  10  kingdoms,  and  when  those 
kingdoms  or  their  "kings  gave  their  power  and 
strength"  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  who  ruled 
them  with  a  tyranny  so  emphatically  described 
in  the  verses  quoted. 

On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Faber  understands  by 
this  beast  what  he  calls  "the  secular  Roman 
empire,"  and  repudiates  the  idea,  that  it  as- 
sumed or  could  assume  an  ecclesiastical  form 
of  government.  He  admits,  however,  that 
"f/ie  little  liorn^''  mentioned  in  Daniel's  pro- 
phecy, chap.  7:8,  ihat  sprung  up  among  the  10 
horns  of  a  beast,  mentioned  in  the  7th  verse,  is 
the  papacy,  and  the  same  as  the  beast  with 
"two  horns  like  a  lamb,"  mentioned  bv  John  in 
this  13th  chapter.  Now,  if  the  same  moral 
character  and  doings  constitute  identity  in  this 
case,  then,  the  little  horn,  mentioned  by  Dan- 
iel, and  the  beast  with  7  heads  and  10  horns 
mentioned  by  John,  are  beyond  all  peradven- 
lure  the  same.     In  Dan.  7:20,  it  is  said  of  "the 


46  THE  BEASTS. 

little  horn,"  "that  he  had  a  mouth  that  spoke 
great  things;"  and  in  verse  25th,  "that  he 
would  speak  great  words  against  the  Most 
High;"  and  of  John's  beast  it  is  said,  "that 
there  was  given  to  him  a  mouth  speaking  great 
things  and  blasphemies,  and  that  he  opened  his 
mouth  in  blasphemy  against  God,  to  blaspheme 
his  name,  and  his  tabernacle,  and  them  that 
dwell  in  heaven."  It  is  said  of  the  Htde  horn, 
in  verse  21st,  "  that  he  made  war  with  the 
saints,  and  prevailed  against  them;"  and  of 
John's  beast,  "that  to  him  was  given  to  make 
war  with  the  saints,  and  to  overcome  them." 
And  it  is  said  of  the  little  horn,  "that  the  saints 
would  be  given  into  his  hands  for  a  lime,  times, 
and  the  dividing  of  time,"  or,  as  we  will  here- 
after show,  for  1260  yeai*s;  and  of  John's 
beast,  "that  he  should  continue  for  42  pro- 
phetic months,"  which,  we  will  also  show, 
amounts  to  the  same  length  of  time.  It  is  also 
said  of  the  little  horn  in  verse  8th,  that  three 
of  the  10  horns  or  kingdoms,  among  which  he 
sprung  up,  would  be  "plucked  up  by  the  roots" 
by  him.  Now,  as  history  is  said  to  be  the  best 
interpreter  of  prophecy,  no  historical  fact  is 
better  known,  than  that  the  papacy  has  possess- 
ed for  centuries  three  of  the  original  kingdoms 
into  which  the  Roman  empire  was  divided. 
And  to  this  may  be  added,  that,  in  describing 
his  beast,  John  evidently  borrowed  the  lan- 
guage and  description  of  Daniel;  nor  is  there 
a  word  or  feature  of  character  employed  by 
Daniel    in  describing  "the  little    horn,"  that 


THE  BEASTS.  47 

would  seem  to  have  been  used  by  John  in  de- 
scribing "  the  beast  with  two  horns  Hke  a  lamb." 
From  these  facts  and  considerations,  we  are 
also  constrained  to  understand  John's  beast 
with  7  heads  and  10  horns,  and  crowns  on 
those  horns,  to  be  the  Roman  empire  when  di- 
vided into  10  kingdoms,  and  that  the  papacy  is 
one  of  those  heads.  That  empire  is  compared 
to  a  wild  beast  on  account  of  its  persecuting 
character  and  idolatry;  and  who  does  not 
know  that  Rome  papal  has  shed  far  more  blood 
of  the  saints  than  Rome  pagan  ever  shed. 
And  who  does  not  also  know  that  the  former 
has  been  as  idolatrous  in  worshipping  saints 
and  angels,  as  the  latter  has  ever  been.  This, 
in  a  few  words,  is  our  view  of  the  symbolical 
dragon  and  beast.  The  dragon  symbolized 
the  Roman  empire  in  its  pagan  state,  and  the 
beast  with  7  heads  and  10  horns  symbolized 
the  same  empire,  when  those  kingdoms  gave 
"their  power  and  strength  to  the  beast," — Rev. 
17:13,  If  lie  had  their  power  and  strength 
he  was  surely  one  of  the  heads  of  the  empire ; 
but  we  may  meet  with  this  subject  again. 

In  this  same  chapter  the  prophet  also  tells  us 
"that  he  saw  a  beast  which  came  up  out  of  the 
earth ;  that  he  had  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  but 
spake  like  a  dragon;  that  he  exercised  all  the 
power  of  the  first  beast  before  him,  and  caused 
the  earth  and  all  that  dwell  therein  to  worship 
the  first  beast  whose  deadly  wound  was  healed  ; 
that  he  did  great  wonders,  so  that  he  caused 

firegto  come  down  from  heaven  in  the  sight  of 

4# 


48  THE  BEASTS. 

men ;  that  he  deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth,  by  means  of  those  miracles  which  he  did 
in  the  sight  of  the  beast,  saying  unto  them  that 
they  should  make  an  image  to  the  beast  which 
had  the  wound  by  the  sword  and  did  live;  that 
he  had  power  to  give  life  to  the  image  of  the 
beast;  that  the  image  of  the  beast  should  both 
speak,  and  cause  that  as  many  as  would  not 
worship  the  image  should  be  killed,  and  that 
his  number  is  606." 

Newton,  Scott,  and,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
Faber,  understand  by  this  beast  the  clergy  of 
the  church  of  Rome,  regular  and  secular. — 
We  confess  that  we  have  never  been  satisfied 
with  this  interpretation.  For,  are  not  the  cler- 
gy of  every  church  the  most  efficient  part  of 
the  church,  and  can  there  be  a  visible  church 
without  officers  to  administer  her  ordinances? 
To  say,"^hen,  that  the  clergy  of  the  papal 
church  are  this  beast,  is  something  like  saying 
that  the  papal  church  is  the  papal  church.  As 
already  intimated,  Mr.  Croly,  however  mistaken 
on  other  points,  has,  we  think,  shed  light  on 
this  subject.  He  thinks  that  the  inquisition  of 
the  church  of  Rome  is  this  beast.  It  is  com- 
posed of  two  kinds  of  officers  or  agents,  the 
inquisitors  or  judges,  and  their  familiars,  whose 
office  it  is  to  hunt  for  heretics  and  heresy,  and 
to  deliver  them  up  to  the  othei's  for  trial  and 
condemnation.  And  it  is  said  that  noblemen 
m  Portugal  have  been  ambitious  of  filling  this 
office,  of  which  the  meanest  miscreant  might 
be  ashamed.     True,  the  inquisitors  are  cleri- 


THE  BEASTS.  49 

cal  persons,  but  they  are  a  select  few,  and  are 
vested  with  power  above  all  the  other  clergy 
of  the  Romish  church ;  and  not  only  so,  but 
over  the  highest  potentates  of  popish  king- 
doms. Whoever  has  read  the  history  of  that 
infernal  tribunal,  must  have  been  struck  with 
the  resemblance  which  it  bears  to  this  last 
beast,  which,  although  it  has  "two  horns  like  a 
lamb,"  or  a  pretence  to  meekness  and  inno- 
cence, yet  "speaks  like  a  dragon."  In  the 
name  of  "heaven,"  or  by  the  authority  of  the 
church,  it  burns  publicly  to  death  those  who 
may  differ  from  the  creed  of  the  church  of 
Rome;  alluded  to,  we  think,  in  the  words,  "he 
maketh  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven  in  the 
sight  of  men;"  and  this  is  called  "an  act  of 
faith."  Interpreters  are  not  agreed  respecting 
the  image  of  the  first  beast,  which  this  beast 
caused  others  to  make  to  themselves ;  but  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  on  this  point  affects  not  the 
general  interpretation.  Some  understand  by 
this  image  the  pope  himself,  made  such  by  the 
election  of  cardinals;  but  as  the  cardinals  are 
a  select  few,  this  would  seem  not  to  corres- 
pond with  the  language  in  the  14th  verse, 
which  represents  this  beast  as  "saying  to  them 
that  dwell  upon  the  earth,  or  the  papal  Roman 
empire,  that  they  should  make  an  image  to  the 
beast  which  had  a  wound  by  a  sword  and  did 
live."  Now,  as  the  inquisition  was  erected  by 
the  pope  for  the  suppression  of  supposed  heresy, 
and  compelling  submission  to  the  See  of 
Rom«;   what  if  the  inquisition    itself  is  this 


50  ^     THE  BEASTS. 

image,  and  their  prevailing  upon  the  kings  of 
the  Latin  earth,  to  allow  the  tribunal  to  be 
erected  in  their  dominions,  a  making  the  image 
of  the  first  or  papal  beast.  They  once  threat- 
ened and  frightened  Charles  V,  the  emperor  of 
Germany,  and  his  son  Philip,  two  of  the  most 
powerful  potentates  of  their  day: — "And  he 
causeth  all,  both  small  and  great,  rich  and  poor, 
free  and  bond,  to  receive  a  mark  in  their  right 
hand,  or  on  their  forehead.  And  that  no  man 
might  buy  or  sell,  save  he  that  had  the  mark  or 
the  name  of  the  beast,  or  the  number  of  his 
name."  The  sign  of  the  cross  which  papists 
have  in  their  churches  and  houses,  and  which 
they  are  in  the  habit  of  making  with  their  right 
hands  on  their  foreheads,  would  seem  to  be 
this  sign  or  mark.  And  whether  any  false  mi- 
racles were  resorted  to,  to  induce  the  kings  of 
the  Latin  earth  to  establish  the  inquisition  in 
their  dominions,  and  thus  make  to  themselves 
and  their  subjects  an  image  of  the  first  beast, 
we  are  not  at  present  prepared  positively  to  as- 
sert; but  when  it  is  recollected  that  it  was  en- 
trusted to  the  Dominican  friars,  the  thing  is 
highly  probable.  All  who  have  read  in  Buck's 
Theological  Dictionary,  under  the  word  Do- 
minicans, the  wicked  farce  which  they  acted 
in  the  case  of  the  simpleton  Tetzer,  will  not  be 
slow  to  believe  that  they  would  resort  to  some 
such  means  for  establishing  a  tribunal,  that  put 
the  souls,  and  bodies,  and  property  of  the  peo- 
ple into  their  hands. 

As  to  the  number  666,  the  number  of  this 


THE  BEASTS.      "  51 

beast,  which  has  perplexed  interpreters,  ancient 
and  modern,  Mr.  Croly  has  a  solution  which 
is  simple,  and  at  the  same  time  agrees  with  au- 
thentic historical  fact.  This  number  is  said  in 
our  translation  to  be  "the  number  of  a  man;"^ 
and  interpreters  have,  accordingly,  endeavored 
to  find  out  a  man's  name,  which,  according  to 
the  manner  of  computation  with  the  Greeks, 
by  the  letters  of  their  alphabet,  will  amount  to 
666.  The  Greek  word  Lateinos  contains  this 
number,  and  seems  to  be  fixed  upon  by  some 
as  the  solution  of  this  mystical  question.  But, 
as  Mr.  Croly  has  observed,  the  Greek  words 
''''aritJiinos  anthropoii^''  do  not  signify  "the 
number  of  a  man,"  but  a  "number  of  man, 
such  as  is  in  human  use,  or  simply  a  number;" 
and  that  this  number  has  reference  to  the  year 
in  which  this  beast  came  up  out  of  the  earth, 
or  Roman  empire,  under  papal  tyranny.  In 
page  114,  this  writer  has  shown  that  in  the 
year  533,  the  emperor  Justinian  did,  by  a 
document  still  extant,  appoint  John,  Bishop  of 
Rome,  "the  head  of  the  church,"  and  "head 
over  all  the  churches,  and  subjected  and  united 
to  his  highness  all  the  priests  of  the  East."^ 
Now  if  we  will  add  ^^^  to  533,  it  will  bring  us 
down  to  the  year  1199,  the  very  year  in  which 

*Tliis  edict  is  recorded  in  the  annals  of  Baronius,  a  cardinal  of 
the  church  of  Rome.  Mr.  Croly  has  quoted  only  that  part  of  it 
that  confers  the  title  and  power — ^^Ideoque  omnes  sacerdotes  uni- 
versi  orientalis  tr actus  subjicore  et  unire  vestrcB  sanctitati  proper- 
avimus^'' — Therefore  we  have  hastened  to  subject  and  unite  to 
your  holiness  all  the  churches  of  the  whole  East.  And  near  the 
end  of  the  edict  or  letter,  he  calls  John  "caput  omniu7n  sanctarum 
ecclesiarum^^'' — the  head  of  all  the  holy  churches. 


52  THE  WOMAN. 

Pope  Innocent  III.  established  the  inquisition. 
But  whether  this  beast  symbohzed  the  clergy, 
regular  and  secular  of  the  church  of  Rome,  or 
the  infernal  tribunal  of  the  inquisition,  affects 
not  our  views  of  the  principal  prophecies  yet 
to  be  examined. 

There  is  also  another  symbolical  beast  men- 
tioned in  7th  verse  of  11th  chapter,  and  which 
is  said  to  have  ascended  out  of  "the  bottomless 
pit,"  or  hell  itself  Scott,  Faber  and  Reid 
have  considered  this  beast  as  the  same  that 
"arose  out  of  the  sea,"  or  the  convulsed  state 
of  the  Roman  empire.  But  that  he  is  in  some 
respects  a  distinct  beast,  and  has  had  a  distinct 
agency  in  the  great  drama  of  "the  Revelation." 
we  hope  to  make  appear  in  the  proper  place. 

That  what  we  have  yet  to  offer  on  these 
prophecies  may  be  the  more  clearly  under- 
stood, it  may  be  necessary  to  observe  farther, 
that  although  it  was  given  to  the  beast  that 
arose  out  of  the  sea  to  make  war  with  the 
saints,  and  to  overcome  them,  yet  there  was  a 
remnant  preserved  in  the  most  troublous  times, 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  thickest  moral  dark- 
ness. These  are  held  out  to  our  view  in  12th 
chapter,  under  the  symbol  of  a  "woman  cloth- 
ed with  the  sun,"  or  with  the  righteousness  of 
Jesus,  "the  sun  of  righteousness,"  having  "the 
moon"  or  Jewish  ritual  "under  her  feet,"  and 
"upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars,"  or 
adorned  with  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
12  apostles;  "that  she  fled  into  the  wilderness, 
where  she  had  a  place  prepared  of  God,  that 


THE  WOIVIAN.  53 

they  sliouki  feed  her  there  1260  prophetical 
days,  or  years."  Such,  in  an  especial  manner, 
were  the  Waldenses  in  the  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont, in  the  eleventh,  and  the  Albigenses 
about  Toulouse  in  France,  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  which  all  the  power  and  rage  of 
the  Inquisition  could  not  destroy  until  the  era 
of  the  Reformation  in  1519.  And  that  that 
auspicious  era  was  foretold  by  John  in  14th 
chapter,  is  the  opinion  of  the  most  judicious 
commentators  and  interpreters.  "And  I  saw," 
saith  the  prophet,  "another  angel  flying  through 
the  midst  of  heaven,  or  the  church,  having  the 
everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  them  that  dwell 
on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation  and  kindred, 
and  tongue  and  people."  "And  another  an- 
gel followed,  saying,  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fal- 
len, that  great  city,  because  she  made  all  na- 
tions drunk  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her 
fornication." 

Having  given  the  preceding  explanations  for 
the  reasons  assigned,  we  will  now  return  to  the 
thread  and  series  of  the  prophecies  in  1 1th 
chapter.  And  here  it  may  he  necessary  to  ob- 
serve, that  the  12th,  12ih,  and  14th  chapters 
are  not  a  continued  series  of  the  general  pro- 
phecy, but  a  kind  of  episode,  or  "little  book," 
as  it  is  called  in  10th  chapter,  in  which  "the 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun,"  or  the  uncor- 
rupted  church,  and  her  enemy  and  persecutor, 
"the  beast  with  7  heads  and  10  horns,"  are  de- 
lineated more  fully  and  vividly  than  they  had 
been  in  the  preceding  general  propliecy.     In 


54  THE    WITNESSES. 

examining  the  predictions  of  the  sixth  trumpet, 
we  have  seen  the  Euphratean  horsemen,  or  the 
Ottoman  Turks,  overturning  the  Eastern  em- 
pire, and  wasting  the  church  in  that  region; 
while  the  Pope  of  Rome,  or  "the  man  of  sin," 
as  the  apostle  Paul  calls  him,  "sat  in  the  tem- 
ple of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God." 
We  have  also  seen  "the  woman  clothed  with 
the  sun,"  retiring  into  the  wilderness,  or  a  place 
of  safety,  where  she  would  be  fed  for  1260 
years.  But  we  are  told  in  11th  chapter,  that 
two  witnesses  for  Christ  and  truth  should  pro- 
phesy in  sackcloth  during  this  period;  "that 
when  they  should  finish  their  testimony,  the 
beast  that  ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit 
would  make  war  against  them  and  kill  them ; 
that  their  dead  bodies  would  lie  in  tlie  street 
of  the  great  city,  which  is  spiritually  called  So- 
dom and  Egypt,  where  our  Lord  also  was  cru- 
cified; and  that  after  three  days  and  a  half,  or 
three  years  and  a  half,  the  spirit  of  life  from  God 
would  enter  into  them,  and  they  would  stand 
upon  their  feet,  and  great  fear  would  fall  upon 
those  who  would  see  them:"  and  the  inquiry 
now  is,  who  those  witnesses  were,  or  are. 

If  the  opinions  of  interpreters  respecting  the 
beast  with  two  horns  like  a  lamb  have  been 
discordant,  this  has  also  been  the  case  in  re- 
gard to  those  witnesses.  Dr.  Scott,  in  his  com- 
ment on  the  passage,  is  of  the  opinion  that  they 
have  reference  to  all  who,  during  the  reign  of 
Popery,  have  testified  against  its  corruptions; 
but  thinks  that  the  time  of  slaying  them  is  no 


THE    WITNESSES.  55 

come.  He  thinks,  moreover,  that  it  is  not  far 
off;  and  that  the  public  profession  of  religion 
will  be  suppressed  for  three  years  and  a  half 
in  the  bounds  of  the  ancient  Roman  empire. 
This,  however,  is  not  probable,  from  the  pre- 
sent aspect  of  affairs  in  the  christian  world,  and 
on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

Mr.  Reid  is  also  of  opinion,  that  the  wit- 
nesses mean  pious  and  intelligent  men,  "but 
generally,  ministers  of  the  gospel  who  testified 
during  the  reign  of  'the  Man  of  sin,'  not  only 
against  the  errors  in  doctrine  and  worship  of 
the  church  of  Rome,  but  of  the  Protestant 
churches,  many  of  whom  he  considers  as  bad, 
if  not  worse  than  Popery  itself;  that  it  is  a  mo- 
ral, and  not  a  literal  slaying  of  the  witnesses 
that  is  meant;  that  they  have  been  slain  by  the 
multiplicity  of  human  inventions  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God ;  that  the  street,  or  as  he  translates 
it,  the  breadth  of  the  great  city  where  they  are 
slain,  means  every  where  throughout  Christen- 
dom;  applies  the  revolution  in  Spain  in  1808, 
to  the  great  earthquake  that  was  to  accompany 
the  slaying  of  the  witnesses;  that  Spain  was 
the  tenth  part  of  the  great  city  that  was  to  fall 
on  the  occasion ;  and  that  the  destruction  of  the 
most  eminent  Spanish  patriots  was  the  slaying 
of  the  seven  thousand  men  of  name,  as  it  is  in 
the  original."  We  agree  with  Mr.  Reid  that 
the  slaying  of  the  witnesses  was  moral,  and 
not  literal;  but  we  think  that  he  has  altogether 
mistaken  their  character,  and  also  the  charac- 
ter and  designs  of  the  Spanish  patriots. 
6 


56  THE    WITNESSES. 

Mr.  Faber  understands  by  the  two  witnesses, 
the  Jewish  and  christian  churches;  because,  as 
he  says,  they  are  compared  to  two  ohve  trees 
in  the  4th  chapter  of  Zechariah.  But  it  is 
Joshua  and  Zerubabel  that  are  compared  to 
two  ohve  trees  in  that  chapter.  Besides,  the 
churcli  of  God  is  one^  and  indivisible,  and 
akhough  compared  to  an  ohve  tree  in  the 
scriptures,  we  do  not  know  that  it  is  compared 
to  two  olive  trees.  Mr.  Keith  says  that  the 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses  were  those  wit- 
nesses; but  this  w^e  will  pass  over  at  present,  as 
we  propose  to  examine  it  hereafter. 

That  by  the  "witnesses,"  we  are  to  under- 
stand the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  has  been 
our  own  opinion  for  upwards  of  thirty  years, 
and  which  wc  have  declared  from  the  pulpit 
more  than  once.  Tiiis  is  also  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Croly,  and  as  Mr.  Faber  informs  us,  of  a 
Mr.  Galloway  of  England.  They  are  called 
witnesses,  because  they  witness  for  God  and  his 
Son:  ''Search  the  scriptures,"  said  Christ,  "for 
they  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  They  are 
compared  to  two  olive  trees,  and  two  candle- 
sticks, because  they  furnish  the  church  with  all 
needful  divine  light  and  unction.  They  are 
said  to  prophesy;  and  if  by  prophecy  we  are 
here  to  understand  foretelling  future  events* 
what  invaluable  predictions  do  they  contain, 
the  fulfilment  of  many  of  which  is  an  unan- 
swerable argument  for  their  divine  origin ;  for 
supporting  the  faith  of  the  weak  believer,  and 
for  stopping  the  mouths  of  infidels  and  gain- 


THE    WITNESSES.  57 

sayers.  And  if  by  prophecy,  we  are  to  under- 
stand preaching  or  proclaiming,  what  precious 
doctrines  and  precepts  do  they  proclaim  for  our 
instruction  and  edification.  But  they  were  to 
prophesy  in  sackcloth  during  1260  years,  or 
the  dominant  reign  of  the  "Man  of  sin;"  and 
who  does  not  know  that  the  church  of  Rome 
has  forbidden  the  laity  to  read  the  scriptures, 
except  in  their  own  coriupted  version  of  the 
vulgate,  which  few  of  them  can  read.  This  was 
truly  clothing  them  with  sackcloth.  ''If  any 
man  will  hurt  them,  fire  proceedeth  out  of  their 
mouth  and  devoureth  their  enemies."  This  is 
sufficiently  explained  in  the  sacred  volume. — 
•'If  any  man  will  add  to  these  things,  God  will 
add  to  him  the  plagues  written  in  this  book." 
"They  have  power  to  shut  heaven  that  it  rain 
not  in  the  days  of  their  prophecy."  This, 
doubtless,  has  reference  to  God's  withholding 
the  fructifying  influences  of  his  Spirit  from 
those  churches  which  cover  his  precious  word 
as  it  were  with  sackcloth,  or  which  deny  any 
cai'dinal  doctrine  of  his  precious  word, — Isa. 
5:6.  Heb.  6:7,8.  But,  what  comes  more  im- 
mediately to  the  point  and  proof, — "And  when 
they  have  finished  their  testimony,  the  beast 
that  ascendeth  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  shall 
make  war  against  them,  and  kill  them ;  and  their 
dead  bodies  sJiall  lie  in  the  street  of  the  great 
eity,  which  is  spiritually  called  Sodom  and 
Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified." 

There  is  no  part  of  his  exposition  of  the 
Apocalypse,  in  which  Mr.  Faber  has  failed  so 


58  THE    WITNESSES. 

much  as  in  his  opinion  of  the  time  when, 
where,  and  by  whom  the  witnesses  were  slain. 
He  thinks  their  death  had  reference  to  the  Pro- 
testants being  defeated  by  the  emperor  of  Ger- 
many, a  bigoted  Papist,  in  the  battle  of  Mul- 
burgh,  in  1549;  and  that  they  arose  from  the 
dead  three  years  and  a  half  afterwards,  when 
they  gained  the  battle  of  Magdeburgh,in  1550, 
and  were  taken  up  into  the  symbolical  heaven 
by  the  peace  of  Passau,  whereby  they  were 
allowed  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion. 
But,  besides  being  too  narrow  and  circum- 
scribed for  the  scope  of  John's  visions,  this 
will  not  quadrate  with  his  other  dates,  and 
other  parts  of  his  system  or  scheme.  He  dates 
the  rise  of  the  "Man  of  sin"  in  606,  when  the 
emperor  and  usurper  Phocas  conferred  the 
headship  of  the  churches  on  the  Bishop  of 
Rome.  But  the  beast  was  to  continue  in  his 
dominant  state  for  1260  years;  and  as  the  wit- 
nesses were  to  prophesy  during  that  time,  then 
they  were  slain  219  years  before  the  date  of 
their  death  assigned  by  John.  But,  admitting 
that  the  beast  arose  in  the  year  533,  when  the 
emperor  Justinian  appointed  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  to  be  ^'head  over  all  the  holy  churches," 
and  which  was  confirmed  by  Phocas  in  6i}6; 
and,  admitting  that  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments are  the  witnesses,  then  adding  J260  to 
533,  will  bring  us  down  to  the  year  1793,  and 
the  question  then  will  be — was  there  any  event 
that  took  place  within  the  bounds  of  the  an- 
cient Roman  empire  in  that  year,  that  would 


THE    WITNESSES.  59 

amount  to  the  slaying  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  as  svmbohcal  witnesses? 

In  that  year,  says  Mr.  Croly,  and  all  the  his- 
torians of  the  French  revolution, — "the  chris- 
tian religion  was  abolished  in  France;  Sunday 
was  to  be  observed  no  more;  the  sections  of 
Paris  demanded  at  the  bar  of  the  convention 
the  total  suppression  of  all  religious  worship. 
Gobert,  the  vicar  general  of  Paris,  attended  by 
a  body  of  his  priesthood,  abjured  his  functions 
and  Christianity,  uttering  the  fearful  words,  all 
religion  is  an  imposture!^''  p.  99.  On  page 
J 19,  Mr.  Croly  farther  observes,  "that  by  the 
decree  of  the  government  declaring  that  the 
nation  acknowledged  tiiat  there  was  no  God, 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  were  slain 
throughout  republican  France."  "Contume- 
lies," he  adds,  "to  the  sacred  books  would  not 
be  wanting  in  the  general  plunder:"  and  we 
remember  reading  in  the  public  papers  at  the 
time,  that  in  Lyons,  the  second  city  in  France, 
they  were  dragged  in  derision  through  the 
streets  at  the  tail  of  an  ass,  and  then  burned 
by  the  public  executioner.  If  this  was  not 
slaying  the  scriptures  as  the  standing  witnesses 
for  God  and  his  Christ,  we  know  not  that  we 
have  any  evidence  that  any  of  the  prophecies 
have  been  fulfilled.  And  let  it  be  remembered 
that  this  was  done  in  France,  the  principal 
street  of  the  great  symbolical  city — the  Papal 
empire.  Mr.  Croly  further  observes,  that  after 
this  time,  "the  capital  and  all  the  republican 
towns  were  the  scenes  of  civic  feasts  and 
6* 


60  THE    WITNESSES. 

shows  of  the  most  extravagant  kinds;"  a  ful- 
filment of  the  prophecy — "And  they  that  dwell 
on  the  earth  shall  rejoice  over  them,  and 
make  merry,  and  send  gifts  to  one  another,  be- 
cause these  two  prophets  tormented  them  thai 
dwelt  on  the  earth.''''  When  these  facts  are 
duly  considered,  we  may  see  the  propriety  and 
truth  of  the  picture  drawn  of  France  at  that 
time,  as  "the  street  of  the  great  city  which  is 
spiritually  called  Sodom  and  Egypt,"  on  ac- 
count of  unnatural  wickedness  and  cruelty,  and 
where  Christ  and  his  word  were  treated  with 
more  contumely  than  when  he  was  actually 
crucified. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  objected  that  Faber,  Scott 
and  other  writers  on  the  Apocalypse  say,  that 
the  witnesses  were  to  be  slain  by  the  beast  that 
ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  which 
they  also  say  is  the  same  as  the  beast  with  7 
heads  and  10  horns;  but  what  we  have  related 
was  done  by  the  infidel  and  atheistic  national 
convention  of  France.  We  confess  that  we 
were  surprised  when  we  saw  this  in  Mr.  Fa- 
ber's  book.  In  the  6th  chapter,  vol.  1,  he  has 
proved,  we  think  unanswerably,  that  the  king 
or  power  mentioned  in  tfie  11th  chapter  of 
Daniel,  "who  should  magnify  himself  above 
every  god,  and  speak  marvellous  things  against 
the  God  of  gods,  nor  regard  any  god^''  was 
a  power  distinct  from  "the  Man  of  sin;" — 
that  he  was  to  appear  after  the  Reformation; 
be  atheistical  in  his  creed ; — in  fine,  that  he 
was  republican  France,  and  the  long  predicted 


THE    WITNESSES.  61 

Antichrist.  Why  Mr.  Faber  did  not  see  that 
this  God-denying  and  God-defying  power  was 
the  only  pro{3er  instrument  for  slaying  the  wit- 
nesses, has  indeed  surprised  us.  For  the  "Man 
of  sin,"  although  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of 
the  saints,  would  not  destroy  himself;  but  this 
power  endeavored  to  sweep  tlie  Romish  as 
well  as  other  churches  from  the  face  of  the 
earth.  In  a  word,  the  description  and  origin  of 
this  beast  is  different  from  the  "Man  of  sin," 
or  the  beast  with  7  heads  and  10  horns.  This 
last  beast  arose  otit  of  the  sea,  or  the  convulsed 
state  of  the  Roman  empire;  but  the  other 
arose  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  or  hell  itself; 
for  so  hell  is  called  in  Rev.  20:1 — the  brood 
it  would  seem  of  the  dragon  and  of  the  mother 
of  harlots,  which  had  previously  committed 
spiritual  fornication  with  the  kings  of  the  Latin 
earth.  Mr.  Faber's  dating  the  rise  of  the 
"Man  of  sin,"  in  the  year  606,  and  supposing 
that  the  Protestants  of  Germany  were  the  wit- 
nesses, is  what  obscured  his  acute  intellect  on 
this  point.^ 

*We  have  seen  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  that  the  beast 
described  by  Jolni  in  chap.  13,  with  7  heads  and  10  horns,  was  the 
Roman  empire  in  its  Papal  form  or  head.  And  that  he  is  the  same 
as  the  beast  "  that  ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,"  chap.  11:7, 
and  17:8,  is  indeed  the  fact;  but  then  it  was  the  Papacy  under  such 
circumstances,  and  with  such  a  change  of  aspect  and  action,  that 
when  exhibited  again  by  John  in  those  chapters,  he  appears  as  if 
another  beast  altogether,  and  in  one  sense  this  was  the  fact.  At  his 
first  appearance,  or  when  "he  arose  out  of  the  sea,"  or  the  con- 
vulsed state  of  the  empire  in  the  sixth  century,  it  was  to  assume 
his  7th  head,  and  persecute  the  saints  under  the  color  of  religion; 
but  when  he  ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  in  1793,  it  was  to 
slay  the  witnesses,  and  assume  the  eighth,  or  as  Mr.  Faber  terms 
it,  the  septimo-octave  head,  as  we  think  he  did  in  revolutionary  and 


62  THE    WITNESSES. 

But  the  witnesses  were  to  lie  dead  three  pro- 
phetical days,  or  three  years  and  a  half,  after 
which  "the  Spirit  of  life  from  God  would  enter 
into  them,  and  they  should  stand  on  their  feet, 
and  great  fear  fall  on  them  that  saw  them." — 
"And  they  heard  a  great  voice  from  heaven,  or 
the  church,  saying,  come  up  hither.  And  they 
ascended  up  into  heaven  in  a  cloud — the  sym- 
bol of  a  multitude,  or  of  drops  of  rain  in  a 
cloud,  Heb.  12:1 — and  their  enemies  beheld 
them."  Now,  as  Mr.  Croly  has  shown  in  page 
123,  in  June,  1797,  exactly  three  years  and  a 
half  after  the  passing  of  the  above  atheistical 
decree,  it  was  repealed  for  political  reasons. 
From  that  time  they  stood  on  their  feet  firm 
and  unmolested  until  1805,  when  they  heard  a 
great  voice  from  the  London  Bible  Society, 
saying  unto  them,  "Come  up  hither,  into 
heaven,"  or  the  church;  and  they  have  "as- 
cended in  a  cloud,"  or  in  such  numbers  that 
all  the  power  of  Rome  and  hell  cannot  sup- 
press them.  England  has  the  imperishable 
honor  of  forming  the  first  Bible  society  of  this 
century;  and  when  we  reflect  on  that  and  her 
other  gigantic  and  untiring  efforts  in  behalf  of 
Christianity,  we  cannot  but  say  with  one  of  her 
most  pious  and  feeling  poets, — 

"  England,  with  all  thy  faults,  I  love  thee  still." 

We  have  only  to  remark  on  this  trumpet, 

atheistical  France.  And,  indeed,  tlie  beast  that  ascended  out  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  as  expressly  said  in  chap.  17:11,  "is  to  be  the  eighth, 
and  is  of  the  seven,  and  goeth  into  perdition."  But  we  may  meet 
with  this  point  hereafter. 


THE    WITNESSES.  63 

that  at  the  time  (ekeine  hora)  the  witnesses 
were  to  be  slain,  there  was  a  great  "earthquake, 
and  a  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell,"  or  renounc- 
ed its  allegiance  to  Papal  Rome,  "and  in  the 
earthquake  there  were  slain  of  men  7000,  and 
the  remnant  were  affrighted,  and  gave  glory  to 
God."  In  the  original  it  is  names  of  men,  or 
tides  of  nobility;  and  they  who  wish  to  know 
those  names  or  titles  will  find  them  in  Faber, 
chap.  10,  sect.  1.  It  is  true,  an  attack  on  those 
names  was  made  the  preceding  year,  but  they 
could  not  be  strictly  said  to  be  slain,  while  the 
king,  the  supposed  fountain  of  honor,  was 
alive,  but  he  was  not  decapitated  until  the  21st 
of  January,  1793.  This  ended  the  second 
wo-trumpet;  and  the  seventh  angol  sounded 
his  trumpet,  and  what  ensued,  will  be  the  sub- 
ject of  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    VIALS. 

In  examining  the  11th  chapter  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse, we  have  seen  that  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  were  the  witnesses,  and  that  they 
were  slain  by  the  infidel  convention  of  France, 
symbolized  by  the  beast  that  arose  out  of  the 
bottomless  pit.  We  have  also  seen  that,  after 
lying  three  and  a  half  years  in  a  state  of  moral 
death,  they  arose  from  the  dead  by  the  repeal 
of  the  blasphemous  decree  that  slew  them ;  and 
that  not  long  after,  they  ascended  into  the  sym- 
bolical heaven,  or  the  church,  by  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  London  Bible  Society,  and  other 
societies  that  sprung  from  it,  and  in  a  cloud,  or 
in  such  numbers,  that  all  the  powers  of  hell  and 
Rome  cannot  now  suppress  them.  Until  that 
time  the  church  of  Christ  was  to  be  in  a  suf- 
fering state,  wasted  and  worn  out  by  pagan  and 
papal  Rome.  The  scene  was  now  to  be  chang- 
ed by  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  and 
the  unrelenting  enemies  of  the  people  of  God 
were  to  be  wasted  in  their  turn,  until  they 
shall  be  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Verse  15:  "And  the  seventh  angel  sounded, 
and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying, 
The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the 


66  THE    VIALS. 

kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Clirist;  and 
he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  Some  have 
inferred  from  these  words  that  the  millennial 
state  of  the  church  was  to  commence  at  the 
resurrection  of  the  witnesses;  and  we  are  per- 
suaded that  this  opinion  has  led  to  much  error 
in  the  interpretation.  But  much  was  then  to 
be  done,  and  much  is  yet  to  do  before  that  pe- 
riod, and  consequently  those  words  can  only 
import,  that  the  dominant  reign  of  "the  Man  of 
sin"  was  then  at  an  end,  and  he  would  not  be 
permitted  to  waste  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord 
as  he  had  formerly  done.  The  seven  vials 
%yere  to  be  poured  out  for  this  purpose,  or  as 
it  is  expressed  by  the  four  and  twenty  elders 
or  representatives  of  the  church,  "to  destroy 
them  that  had  destroyed  the  earth." 

We  have  already  remarked  that  the  12th, 
13th,  and  14th  chapters  are  a  species  of  epi- 
sode, in  which  the  prophet  breaks  off  from  the 
regular  series  of  his  predictions,  for  the  purpose 
of  presenting  to  our  vievv'  the  principal  charac- 
ters or  agents  in  his  prophecy — the  dragon, 
the  beast  with  7  heads  and  10  horns,  and  the 
beast  with  two  horns  hke  a  lamb,  and  the  agen- 
cy which  they  had  in  endeavouring  to  destroy 
'•''the  woman^''  or  the  uncorrupted  church.  Mr. 
Faber  begins  this  episode  with  the  11  th  chap- 
ter, but  we  have  followed  the  arrangement  of 
Dr.  Scott,  for  this  obvious  reason,  that  the  se- 
ries of  the  prophecies  are  evidently  continued 
to  the  end  of  the  11th  chapter,  when  they  are 
discontinued  for  a  while,  for  the  purpose  just 


THE    VIALS.  67 

mentioned.  We  have  already  made  our  re- 
marks on  those  chapters,  and  the  characters 
introduced  therein:  we  will  ther€fore  pass  on 
to  the  15th  chapter,  where  the  series  of  the 
prophecies  is  taken  up  again.  The  15th  chap- 
ter only  informs  us  that  the  seven  angels  who 
were  appointed  to  pour  out  the  vials  of  the 
wrath  of  God  on  the  impenitent  and  irreclaim- 
able enemies  of  his  church,  prepared  them- 
selves to  execute  their  awful  but  righteous 
commission. 

First  vial, — chapter  16:2:  "And  the  first 
angel  went  and  poured  out  his  vial  on  the 
earth,  and  there  fell  a  noisome  and  grievous 
sore  on  the  men  which  had  the  mark  of  the 
beast,  and  upon  them  that  worshipp  d  his 
name." 

We  have  already  seen  Mr.  Croly's  interpre- 
tation of  this  vial,  and  as  we  think  that  he  was 
mistaken  both  in  respect  to  its  nature,  and  the 
time  it  was  poured  out,  we  will  not  repeat  it. 
As  Dr.  Scott  is  rather  of  opinion  that  all  the 
vials  are  yet  to  be  poured  out,  he  declines  giv- 
ing any  opinion  respecting  the  nature  of  this 
vial.  Mr.  Reid  is  also  of  the  opinion  that  all 
the  vials  are  yet  to  be  poured  out;  but  when 
this  vial  is  poured  out,  it  will  be  upon  earthly- 
minded  men  over  the  whole  earth:  page  260. 
Mr.  Faber,  with  whom  we  so  far  a^gree,  under- 
stands "the  earth"  in  its  symbohcal  sense,  as 
denoting  the  bounds  of  the  ancient  Roman 
empire,  and  "the  noisome  and  grievous  5ore," 
as  a  sore  of  the  mind.  We  agree  with  him 
7 


68  THE    VIALS. 

also,  that  the  dreadful  irruption  of  Deism  and 
Atheism  which  pervaded  almost  every  country 
in  the  bounds  of  that  empire,  and  France  es- 
pecially, was  this  sore;  but  we  disagree  with 
him  as  to  the  time  this  vial  was  poured  out,  as 
its  designed  and  righteous  punishment.  He 
thinks  it  was  poured  out  in  August,  1792,  by 
the  massacres  in  the  prisons  of  Paris  in  that 
month.  Those  massacres  were  rather  a  sore 
of  the  body  than  of  the  mind ;  and  consequent- 
ly belonged  to  the  woes  of  the  second  wo-trum- 
pet.  We  have  seen  that  the  seventh,  or  third 
wo-trumpet  did  not  sound  until  the  witnesses 
were  slain;  but  they  were  not  slain  until  the 
following  year,  when  by  the  decree  of  the  na- 
tional convention  all  religion  was  proscribed, 
which  involved  in  it  the  slaughter  of  the  wit- 
nesses. There  is  no  incongruity  in  this;  or 
that  God  should  so  order  it  in  his  moral  gov- 
ernment, that  an  act  which  was  equal  in  atro- 
city to  the  crucifying  of  Christ,  should  involve 
in  it  its  own  punishment,  by  judicially  blinding 
the  mind,  and  corrupting  and  hardening  the 
heart  more  and  more.  Hence  then  the  blas- 
phemous denial  of  God  by  some;  the  denial  of 
the  scriptures  as  a  divine  revelation  by  others; 
and  the  bursting  of  all  the  bonds  of  moral  obli- 
gation by  the  many.  Fornication  was  legaliz- 
ed by  that -assembly,  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  denied  by  the  declaration,  "that  death 
was  an  eternal  sleep."  It  may  be  said  of 
France  in  that  day,  what  the  prophet  Isaiah 
said  of  the  political  and  religious  state  of  Jeru- 


THE    VIALS.  69 

salem  in  his  day;  "The  whole  head  was  sick; 
and  the  whole  heart  faint;  from  the  sole  of  the 
foot  even  unto  the  crown  of  the  head,  there 
was  no  soundness  in  it,  but  wounds,  bruises 
and  putrefying  sores:'  This  moral  sore  had 
indeed  been  long  concocting  by  the  writings  of 
Voltaire,  Rosseau,  and  others,  but  it  did  not 
burst  forth  in  a  public  manner,  and  with  all  its 
pestiferous  effects,  until  the  national  convention 
issued  the  foregoing  horrible  decree;  the  only 
instance  of  a  nation,  by  its  representatives,  de- 
nying the  being  of  a  God,  and  proscribing  all 
religion  of  whatever  kind  and  character.  What 
horrible  effect  the  preceding  decrees  had  on 
the  public  mind,  and  especially  on  the  youth, 
may  be  seen  in  a  note  in  the  lOth  chapter  of 
Mr.  Faber's  book.  In  1793,  "the  hopeful  pu- 
pils of  the  new  republican  school  appeared  be- 
fore the  bar  of  the  convention,  when  one  of 
them  set  forth  that  all  religious  worship  had 
been  suppressed  in  his  section,  even  to  the  very 
idea  of  religion.  He  added,  that  he  and  his 
school-fellows  detested  God;  and  that  instead 
of  learning  scripture,  they  learned  the  declara- 
tion of  rights.  The  convention,  delighted  with 
the  progress  of  these  young  atheists,  ordered, 
with  the  most  enthusiastic  applause,  that  they 
should  be  admitted  to  the  honors  of  the  sit- 
ting." 

And  here  it  may  not  be  unnecessary  to  ob- 
serve, that  the  language  of  the  vial  would  seem 
to  import,  that  it  would  be  poured  out  on  the 
Popish  clergy  in  an  especial  manner,  as  desig- 


70  THE    VIALS. 

iiated  by  those  who,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  had 
"the  mark  of  the  beast,"  and  worshipped  his 
image,  by  erecting  and  upholding  the  horrible 
tribunal  of  the  Inquisition.  And  this  was  ac- 
tually the  case,  inasmuch  as  it  swept  away 
their  riches  and  honors,  by  the  greatest  part  of 
the  laity  renouncing  all  religion,  and  conse- 
quently their  allegiance  to  them,  and  enlisting 
under  the  banners  of  infidelity;  and  frequently 
sweeping  themselves  from  the  face  of  the  earth 
by  the  axe  of  ihe  guillotine.  The  Pope  trem- 
bled on  his  throne,  and  good  reason  he  had,  as 
will  be  hereafter  seen.  In  a  word,  this  vial,  or 
the  flood  of  infidelity  in  France,  had  a  two- fold 
effect.  First,  by  corrupting  and  demoralizing 
the  mass  of  the  laity,  and  thereby  preparing, 
and  then  pushing  them  on  to  inflict  the  calam- 
ities which  history  tells  us  they  inflicted  with  a 
ruthless  hand  on  their  former  pastors.  We 
will  only  add,  on  this  vial,  that  Mr.  Keith  un- 
derstands this  vial  as  we  do,  as  having  refer- 
ence to  the  prevalence  of  infidelity  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  and  especially  in  France, 
but  is  undetermined  as  to  the  precise  year  in 
which  it  was  poured  out. 

Second  vial, — verse  3:  "And  the  second 
angel  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  sea,  and  it  be- 
came as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man,  and  every 
living  soul  died  in  the  sea." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  mention  the  interpreta- 
tion of  this  vial  given  by  Mr.  Croly,  for  the 
reasons  already  assigned.  Dr.  Scott  is  doubt- 
ful if  this  vial  has  been  poured  out.    Mr.  Reid 


THE    VIALS. 


71 


says  that  the  sea  here  is  symbohcal  of  men  of 
unsteady  and  wavering  minds,  and  that  when 
this  vial  is  poured  out,  it  will  be  poured  out  on 
such.  This  is  also  as  indefinite  as  his  inter- 
pretation of  the  first  vial.  Mr.  Keith  applies 
it  to  the  naval  victories  which  England  obtain- 
ed over  France  from  1793  to  1799.  This  is 
surely  a  loose  and  indeterminate  way  of  expli- 
cation ;  to  understand  and  explain  one  vial  sym- 
bolically, and  the  next  literally.  No  satisfac- 
tory result  can  ever  ensue  from  such  a  mode  of 
explication.  Mr.  Faber  justly  observes,  that 
"the  sea,"  when  used  in  a  symbolical  sense, 
denotes  a  nation  in  a  state  of  dreadful  anar- 
chy and  confusion,  and  its  being  "turned  into 
blood,"  that  massacre  and  bloodshed  are  pre- 
dominant in  that  nation.  Hence  then  he  ap- 
plies, and  we  think  jusdy,  this  vial  to  the  mas- 
sacre and  bloodshed  that  prevailed  in  France 
after  she  became  an  atheistical  republic.  We 
think,  however,  that  he  begins  the  date  of  this 
vial  too  soon,  in  1792.  As  already  observed, 
all  the  tumults  and  massacres  that  happened 
before  1793,  or  the  slaying  of  the  witnesses,  if 
the  subjects  of  prophecy,  belong  to  the  second 
wo-trumpet,  and  not  to  the  third;  and  on  re- 
flection he  appears  sensible  of  it,  and  acknowl- 
edges it  in  page  201.  And  there  is  enough 
after  that  time  to  justify  the  application  of  this 
vial  to  that  unhappy  period.  At  that  time,  or 
during  the  years  1794,  '95,  France  was  one 
vast  aceldama,  or  field  of  blood.  Besides  the 
untold  and  uncounted  thousands  that  perished 


72  THE   VIALS. 

by  the  guillotine  in  Paris,  the  city  of  Lyons, 
that  had  treated  the  scriptures  with  such  in- 
dignity as  we  have  related  in  the  last  chapter, 
suffered  according  to  her  deserts,     A  writer  of 
that  period  says  of  that  city--"  An  undistinguish- 
ed butchery  of  all  the  rich  commenced.    Hun- 
dreds of  persons,  men  and  women,  were  taken 
out  of  the  city  at  a  time,  tied  to  trees,  shot  to 
death,  stabbed,  or  knocked  on  the  head.     In 
the  city  the  guillotine  never  ceased  for  a  mo- 
ment; it  was  shifted  three  times;  holes  were 
dug  in  the  earth  to  receive  the  blood,  and  yet 
it  ran  into  the  gutters."     And  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
in  his  life  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  says — "The 
murders  committed  at  Lyons,  though  hundreds 
were  swept  away  by  vollies  of  musket  shot, 
fell   far  short  of  the  horrors  perpetrated  by 
Carrier  at  Nantes,  who,  in  avenging  the  re- 
public on  the  obstinate  defence  of  La  Vendee, 
misht  have  summoned  hell  to  match  his  cru- 
elty,  without  a  demon  venturing  to  answer  his 
challenge.     Hundreds,  men  and  women,  and 
children,  were  forced  aboard  vessels,  which 
were  scuttled,  and  sunk  in  the  Loire,  and  this 
was  called  republican  baptism.     Men  and  wo- 
men were  stripped,  bound  together,  and  thrown 
into  the  river,  and  this  was  called  republican 
marriage."      And  in  the  country  of  Vendee, 
this  historian  tells  us  "that  upwards  of '200  bat- 
tles and  skirmishes  were  fought;"  "and  at  Pil- 
lau,  such  was  the  more  than  savage  cruelty 
and  brutality  of  the  republican  soldiers,  that 
they  roasted  the  women  and  children  in  a  heat-' 


THE    VIALS^.  73 

ed  oven."  But  not  only  was  this  the  fate  of 
those  who  were  rich,  and  of  those  who  would 
not  eulogize  the  regenerated  republic,  as  the 
convention  blasphemously  called  it,  that  con- 
vention slaughtered  and  punished  each  other 
in  their  turn.  "In  the  course  of  two  years," 
says  Mr.  Faber,  "of  693  that  composed  that 
convention  that  slew  the  witnesses,  7  were  as- 
sassinated, 8  committed  suicide,  34  were  pro- 
scribed, 92  were  imprisoned,  and  65  were  guil- 
lotined." It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  a  far- 
ther detail  of  these  unparalleled  butcheries,  the 
very  recital  of  which  is  almost  sufficient  to 
stagnate  the  blood  in  the  veins,  and  justifies  the 
language  of  the  vial,  "that  the  sea  became  as 
the  blood  of  a  dead  man."  They  are  yet  fresh 
and  vivid  in  the  memories  of  many  yet  alive. 
If  it  is  asked,  is  not  the  pouring  out  of  these  2 
vials  too  near  each  other,  we  reply  that  we  are 
expressly  told  that  they  would  be  poured  out 
in  rapid  succession;  for  it  is  said  in  the  14th 
verse  of  the  11th  chapter,  "The  second  wo  is 
past,  and  behold  the  third  wo  cometh  quickly." 
Besides,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  most  eminent 
commentators  and  interpreters,  that  one  vial 
was  not  completely  emptied  before  the  next 
would  be  poured  out. 

Third  vial, — verses  4 — 6:  "The  third  an- 
gel poured  out  his  vial  on  the  rivers,  and 
fountains  of  water,  and  they  became  blood. 
And  I  heard  the  angel  of  the  waters  say,  Thou 
art  righteous,  O  Lord,  which  wast,  and  art, 
and  shall  be,  because  thou  hast  judged  thus. 


74  THE    VIALS. 

For  they  have  shed  the  blood  of  saints,  and  of 
prophets,  and  thou  hast  given  them  blood  to 
drink;  for  they  are  worthy." 

Dr.  Scott  is  still  undetermined  with  respect 
to  the  application  of  this  vial.  Mr.  Reid  un- 
derstands by  "the  rivers  and  fountains  of  wa- 
ter, the  ordinances  of  the  gospel ;  but  whether 
the  vial  will  be  poured  out  on  the  ordinances 
so  as  to  corrupt  them  or  the  corrupters,  we  do 
not  pretend  to  understand;  but  he  speaks  more 
than  once  of  men  "spiritually  drinking  blood." 
Mr.  Keith  applies  this  vial  to  the  blood  shed  by 
Bonaparte,  in  Italy,  during  the  French  revolu- 
tion, because  Italy  abounds  with  rivers  flowing 
from  the  Alps  and  the  Appenines.  This  is 
dropping  the  symbolical  language  of  the  pro- 
phet again.  We  admit  that  part  of  this  vial 
was  poured  out  on  Italy  at  that  time;  not  as  a 
country  abounding  with  rivers,  and  fountains  of 
water,  but  as  a  country  which  has  shed  the 
blood  of  the  saints.  We  perfectly  accord  with 
Faber's  interpretation  of  the  symbols  of  this 
vial — "that  as  the  sea  denotes  a  nation  in  a 
violent  state  of  revolutionary  tumult  and  mis- 
rule, so  rivers  and  fountains  symbolize  king- 
doms and  states  in  the  opposite  state  of  peace- 
ful, regular  and  settled  government."  We 
agree  with  him  also,  that  "the  rivers  and  foun- 
tains of  water,"  in  this  vial,  signify  the  differ- 
ent nations  of  the  Latin  earth,  who  formerly 
shed  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,  and,  as 
a  just  punishment,  had  themselves  "blood  to 
drink."     This  was  effected  by  the  numerous 


THE    VIALS.  75 

armies  of  the  terrible  republic  issuing  forth 
and  devastating  those  countries,  and  slaughter- 
ing their  inhabitants.  Spain,  Portugal,  Aus- 
tria, Savoy,  Piedmont,  Papal  Rome  and  other 
countries,  distinguished  in  history  for  their 
cruelty  to  those  who  would  not  receive  "the 
mark  of  the  beast,  nor  worship  his  name," 
were  the  principal  sufferers.  "Future  histori- 
ans," as  Mr.  Faber  remarks,  "will  speak  of  this 
unparalleled  war  with  astonishment.  They 
will  describe  Europe  as  bleeding  at  every  pore, 
and  trembling  for  the  fate  of  every  civilized 
government.  They  will  detail  battle  after  bat- 
tle, massacre  after  mjissacre,  campaign  after 
campaign.  They  will  represent  fertile  prov- 
inces as  wasted  with  fire  and  sword ;  and  they 
will  speak  with  horror  of  rapes  and  murders, 
of  pillage  and  extortion."  And,  as  this  writer 
further  remarks,  "Protestant  states,  that  have 
in  any  measure  preserved  the  faith  of  their  an- 
cestors, have  in  a  manner  been  exempt." 

We  will  only  further  observe,  that,  as  the 
field  of  this  vial  was  more  extensive  than  that 
which  preceded  it,  it  consequently  required  a 
longer  time  before  it  was  emptied;  perhaps 
from  1796  to  1804. 

Fourth  vial, — verses  8,  9:  "And  the  fourth 
angel  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  sun,  and 
power  w^as  given  unto  him  to  scorch  men  with 
fire.  And  men  were  scorched  with  great  heat, 
and  blasphemed  the  name  of  God,  who  hath 
power  over  these  plagues;  and  they  repented 
^ot  to  give  him  glory." 


76  THE    VIALS. 

That  the  sun  is  the  symbol  of  a  kingdom,  or 
civil  government,  we  have  already  shown. 
This  vial  was  to  be  poured  out  on  some  of  the 
kingdoms  into  which  the  Roman  empire  was 
divided ;  not  to  ''darken  or  blacken  it  as  sack- 
cloth," but  to  give  it  more  intense  heat,  that  it 
might  scorch  and  wither  others.  It  is  implied 
that  it  would  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  of 
those  kingdoms.  We  need  scarcely  say  that 
France  answers  this  character;  and,  as  was 
observed  in  a  former  chapter,  the  sun  has  been 
long  the  emblem  of  that  kingdom.  In  1804, 
that  nation  changed  its  form  of  government 
from  republican  to  monarchical,  under  Napo- 
leon Bonaparte;  for  his  calling  himself  6m- 
peroi\  did  not  alter  the  nature,  nor  change  the 
character  of  her  ancient  government.  And 
who  does  not  know  and  remember  the  tyranny 
which  he,  as  the  head  of  that  government,  ex- 
ercised over  France  itself  by  his  military  re- 
quisitions and  demand  of  conscripts— half  a 
million  of  whom  are  said  to  have  perished  in 
his  Russian  campaign.  With  his  numerous 
conscripts  he  overran  and  devastated  Austria, 
and  captured  Vienna;  overran  Prussia,  and 
captured  Berlin;  and  forcibly  made  his  brothers 
kings;  Joseph  of  Spain,  Louis  of  Holland,  and 
Jerome  of  Westphalia.  Nor  did  he  fail  in  a 
single  enterprise  while  he  continued  in  the 
bounds  of  the  ancient  Roman  empire;  but  when 
he  ventured  into  Russia,  which  was  never  with- 
in its  pale,  then  the  permissive  commission  was 
at  an  end,  and  he  was  shorn  of  his  beams  and 


THE    VIALS.  77 

Strength  as  a  tormentor  of  others.  From  these 
considerations,  and  others  which  might  be 
mentioned,  it  is  evident  to  ourselves  that  this 
vial  had  reference  to  the  tyrannical  power  of 
France  under  the  emperor  Napoleon.  "Revo- 
lution," says  Scott,  in  his  life  of  Napoleon,  "is 
like  a  conflagration.  Bonaparte  had  destroyed 
the  proper  scale  of  government  in  France,  and 
assumed  an  almost  unlimited  authority  over 
the  fairest  part  of  Europe.  Over  foreign  coun- 
tries, the  military  renown  of  France  streamed 
like  a  comet,  inspiring  universal  dread  and 
distrust.  And  while  it  rendered  indispensable 
similar  preparations  for  resistance,  it  seemed 
as  if  peace  had  departed  from  the  earth  for- 
ever, and  that  its  destinies  were  hereafter  to 
be  disposed  of  according  to  the  laws  of  brutal 
force."  Faber  and  Keith  understand  and 
apply  this  vial  as  we  have  done;  but  to  which. 
Dr.  Scott  neither  agrees  nor  disagrees.  Mr. 
Reid  says  that  this  vial  will  be  poured  out  for 
unhinging  all  the  governments  in  the  world; 
but  he  does  not  tell  us  what  kind  of  govern- 
ments will  be  established  in  their  stead. 

Fifth  vial, — verses  10,  11:  "And  the  fifth 
angel  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  seat  of  the 
beast,  and  his  kingdom  was  full  of  darkness, 
and  they  gnawed  their  tongues  for  pain,  and 
blasphemed  the  God  of  heaven,  because  of 
their  pains  and  sores,  and  repented  not  of  their 
deeds." 

It  is  the  general  opinion  of  interpreters  and 
commentators,  that  this  vial  will  be  poured  out 


"78  THE    VIALS. 

on  Rome  and  its  dependencies,  as  the  seat  of 
the  beast,  and,  as  Dr.  Scott  says,  "so  as  to 
darken  the  whole  Antichristian  empire."  The 
following  rapid  sketch  and  extract,  from  Croly, 
may  cast  some  light  on  this  subject;  although, 
as  the  reader  will  see,  it  is  the  last  event  only 
that  can  be  applied  to  this  vial,  the  others  be- 
ing only  precursors,  or  preparatives  for  that 
event.  "In  1797,  the  second  year  of  his  Ital- 
ian campaigns,  Bonaparte  advanced  towards 
Rome,  and  was  prevented  from  the  seizure  of 
the  Papal  throne  only  by  the  treaty  of  Tolen- 
tino,  in  February,  1797,  which  the  Pope  pur- 
chased at  the  bitter  price  of  three  of  his  lega- 
tions— Ferrara,  Bologna  and  Romania;  money 
to  the  amount  of  a  million  and  a  half  sterhng, 
and  the  plunder  of  the  chefs  d'oeuvre  of  the 
Vatican. 

"Yet  this  was  but  a  respite.  On  the  10th  of 
February,  1798,  the  French  army  under  Ber- 
thier,  entered  Rome,  took  possession  of  the 
city,  and  the  Pope  and  Cardinals  prisoners. 
Within  a  week,  Pius  VI.  was  deposed ;  Rome 
was  declared  a  republic;  the  tree  of  liberty 
was  planted ;  and  the  city  and  states  delivered 
up  to  a  long  series  of  the  deepest  insults,  re- 
quisitions, military  murders,  and  the  general 
injury,  and  degradation  of  the  feelings  and  pro- 
perty of  all  the  people.  Pius  VI.  died  in  cap- 
tivity. Pius  VII.  was  dragged  across  the 
Alps  to  crown  Napoleon;  was  held  in  du- 
resse^ and  was  finally  restored  only  on  the 
fall  of  the  French  empire.     The  Palpal  in- 


THE    VIALS.  "79 

dependence  was  abolished  by  Franc4^  and 
the  son  of  Napoleon  declared  king  of  Rome  ^'' 
This  took  place  in  1812. 

Mr.  Keith  applies  this  vial  to  the  mental 
darkness  that  prevails  at  Rome,  and  in  Popish 
countries,  and  adduces  instances  of  it  that  are 
at  the  same  time  ludicrous  and  deplorable.  We 
do  not  doubt  the  truth  and  accuracy  of  his 
statements;  but  when  was  it  otherwise,  as  a 
general  rule,  since  Popish  influence  prevailed 
at  Rome,  or  any  where  else.  And  intellectual- 
ly dark  and  ignorant  as  they  are,  they  may  be 
said  to  be  light  itself  in  comparison  of  what 
are  called  "the  dark  ages,"  when  Popery  ruled 
without  opposition,  from  the  ninth  century  to 
the  auspicious  era  of  the  reformation.  And 
that  it  is  not  mental  darkness  that  is  meant  in 
this  vial,  is  evident  from  the  circumstance  that 
it  gave  them  great  pain — "And  they  gnawed 
their  tongues  with  pain ;"  for  in  that  case  they 
could  have  soon  relieved  themselves  by  using 
the  means  of  information  which  are  now  ac- 
cessible to  all  ranks.  The  pain  which  they 
suffered  arose  from  their  not  knowing  how  to 
relieve  themselves,  when  Bonaparte  plundered 
them  of  all  he  could  lay  his  hands  upon ;  de- 
prived them  of  their  independence;  kept  their 
Pope  in  duresse;  assumed  to  himself  the  crown 
of  Italy,  and  declared  and  proclaimed  his  son 
king  of  Rome. 

But  notwithstanding  all  this,  it  is  said  "that 
they  repented  not  of  their  evil  deeds,  but  blas- 
phemed God."  A  little  reflection,  however, 
8 


80  THE    VIALS. 

might  have  led  them  to  deep  repentance,  as 
their  ^^pains  and  sores"  came  from  infidels  and 
atheists,  or  men  made  such  by  themselves.  Be- 
sides, the  open  profligacy  of  tfieir  ecclesiastics, 
their  superstition,  and  worshiping  images,  and 
praying  to  saints  and  angels,  were  so  gross  as 
led  men  of  penetrating  minds  to  despise  their 
rehgious  system;  and  as  the  Bible  was  to  them 
next  to  a  prohibited  book,  and  being  conse- 
quently ignorant  of  what  true  Christianity  is, 
the  mass  of  them  plunged  into  deism,  and  not 
a  few  into  blank  atheism.  And  thus  it  was 
that  the  French  nation,  whose  kings  were  styl- 
ed by  the  Pope,  "the  eldest  sons  of  the  church," 
and  one  of  the  10  horns  of  the  Papal  beast^ 
was  one  of  the  first  to  fulfil  the  prophecy,  at 
least  in  part,  "to  hate  the  whore,  and  make 
her  desolate,  and  eat  her  flesh,  and  burn  her 
with  fire."  It  will  be  admitted  that  Rome  had 
a  loud  call  to  repentance  at  the  time  we  are 
speaking  of,  but  instead  of  repenting,  no  sooner 
was  Pius  VIT.  restored  to  his  seat  again,  than 
he  re-established  the  horrid  tribunal  of  the  in- 
quisition, and  recalled  and  restored  the  nefa- 
rious order  of  the  Jesuits.  It  may  be  the  last 
call;  and  that  the  next  call  directed  to  Rome 
will  be  that  of  a  gracious  God  to  his  people 
who  may  be  within  her,  as  Lot  was  in  Sodom, 
"Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not 
partakers  of  her  sins,  and  tiiat  ye  receive  not 
of  her  plagues ;"  for  it  is  expressly  said  in  chap- 
ter 18:8,  "That  she  shall  be  utterly  burned 
with    fire;  for   strong   is  the   Lord  God   that 


THE    VIALS.  81 

judgeth  her."  Whether  she  will  be  burned  by 
fire  bursting  from  the  bowels  of  tlie  eartii,  as 
the  region  round  about  her  is  volcanic,  or  by 
the  fire  of  besiegers,  we  will  not  venture  to  say. 
But  her  fate  will  be  different  from  some  other 
large  cities  that  have  been  nearly  consumed  by 
fire.  London  and  Moscow  both  experienced 
this  fate,  but  arose  more  splendid  from  their 
ashes.  Not  so  will  it  be  with  Rome;  for  it  is 
said  in  the  21st  verse  of  the  chapter  now  quo- 
ted, "That  a  mighty  angel  took  up  a  stone  like 
a  great  millstone,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea,  say- 
ing. Thus  with  violence  shall  that  great  city 
Babylon  be  thrown  down,  and  shall  be  found 
no  more  at  all."  The  reader  need  not  be  told 
that  Babylon  of  old  was  a  type  of  Rome,  on 
account  of  the  idolatry  and  wickedness  of 
both. 

We  will  only  add,  that  Faber  is  uncertain 
whether  this  vial  will  be  poured  out  on  the 
beast  with  seven  heads  and  10  horns,  or  on  the 
two-horned  beast.  But  we  think  that  it  is  im- 
material whether  it  will  be  poured  out  on  the 
one  or  the  other,  or  on  both,  as  they  are  con- 
stituent parts  of  the  same  monster.  Mr.  Reid 
thinks  that  this  vial  will  be  poured  out  on  those 
who  have  introduced  "human  inventions  into 
the  worship  of  God."  But  as  it  would  be  de- 
viating from  the  point  in  hand  to  notice  and 
discuss  this  subject  here,  we  will  defer  it  to  a 
separate  inquiry. 

Sixth  vial, — verse  12:  "And  the  sixth  angel 
poured  out  his  vial  on  the  great  river  Euphra- 


82  THE    VIALS. 

tes,  and  the  water  thereof  was  dried  up,  that 
the  way  of  the  Kings  of  the  East  might  be 
prepared." 

In  explaining  the  sixth  trumpet,  Mr.  Reid 
admits  that  the  river  Euphrates  is  symboJical 
of  the  Turkish  empire;  but  in  explaining  this 
vial,  (page  282,)  he  exhorts  his  readers  "to  di- 
vest their  minds  of  all  thoughts  that  the  coun- 
tries bordering  on  the  Euphrates  are  the  parts 
of  the  earth  where  this  judgment  is  to  be  exe- 
cuted. Such  opinions,  although  held  forth  un- 
der respectabe  names,  are  plainly  destitute  of 
all  foundation  of  truth."  This  is  adhering  to 
the  meaning  of  a  symbol  with  a  witness,  and  a 
compendious  way  of  settling  a  disputed  point. 
And  what  is  the  meaning  which  he  attaches 
to  the  "water  of  the  Euphrates?"  Churches 
which  have  introduced  human  inventions  into 
the  worship  of  God.  And  in  page  288,  he 
tells  us,  "that  if  these  things  are  not  intended  by 
the  river  Euphrates,  it  will  be  hard  to  find  the 
true  meaning  of  the  symbol."  As  for  the  kings 
of  the  East,  he  tells  us  in  the  following  page, 
"that  they  are  the  emblem  of  a  power,  or  ope- 
rating powers,  that  now  exist  in  the  world,  and 
are  now  preparing  their  forces  to  overturn  the 
mystical  Babylon."  He  has  not  told  us,  how- 
ever, who  they  are,  or  what  they  are;  and 
strange  to  tell,  he  says,  that  although  some  of 
them  are  good  men,  yet  some  of  them  are  bad 
men,  and  hypocrites. 

Dr.  Scott  is  uncertain  whether  the  Euphrates 
symboHzes  some  Eastern  nation  that  will  here- 


THE    VIALS.  83 

after  invade  the  kingdom  of  the  beast;  or  the 
drying  up  of  its  water  may  have  reference  to 
such  deductions  from  the  power  of  Rome,  as 
shall  embolden  and  excite  other  nations  to  at- 
tack her.  For  ourselves,  we  have  no  doubt 
from  the  aspects  of  divine  Providence,  but  that 
this  viai  has  reference  to  the  overturning  of  the 
Turkish  empire,  as  requisite  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  symbolized  by 
the  "kings  of  the  East,"  to  the  land  of  Pales- 
tine: this  is  also  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Faber,  and 
of  Mr.  Keith.  We  have  two  reasons  for  this 
opinion.  One  is,  the  symbols — ''the  kings  of 
the  East,"  and  the  "river  Euphrates,"  whence 
the  Turks  who  now  inhabit  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire came,  require  this  interpretation;  and  an- 
other, that  Mahometanism  is  as  much  the  ene- 
my of  Christianity  as  popery,  and  must  be  over- 
turned before  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall 
become  the  kinadoms  of  God  and  of  his  Christ. 
As  the  baleful  effect  of  that  wicked  imposture 
is  described  in  the  sixth  trumpet,  so  its  gradual 
decline  and  final  destruction  is  predicted  in 
the  sixth  vial  by  the  drying  up,  or  evaporation 
of  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates.  And  that  the 
Jews,  Jehovah's  '•''kingdom  of  Priests.^''  shall 
be  restored  to  the  land  of  Palestine,  is  predict- 
ed by  almost  all  the  prophets.  They  who  wisli 
for  particular  information  on  that  subject,  will 
find  it  in  "Frazer  ox  the  Prophecies,'- — 
whose  book  is  confined  almost  to  that  subject. " 
And  who  is  there,  who  is  acquainted  with 
the  present  state  of  the  Turkish   empire,  but 


84  THE    ViALSV 

has  seen  the  predictions  of  this  vial  fulfilled^ 
and  fuIfiUing  in  such  a  striking  point  of  light 
as  to  convince  the  most  incredulous,  even  Mr. 
Reid  liimself!  Greece,  with  her  islands,  per- 
haps the  most  valuable  part  of  that  empire, 
have  been  lopped  off,  and,  we  believe,  forever. 
The  mighty  king  of  the  North  has,  not  many 
vears  ago,  erected  his  standard  almost  under 
the  walls  of  Constantinople,  to  enter  which  no 
obstacle,  which  the  Turks  could  offer,  stood  in 
the  way.  In  point  of  military  resources,  she 
is  one  of  the  feeblest  and  most  abject  states  in 
Asia  or  Europe.  Her  existence  depends  on 
the  political  caprice  and  nod  of  the  autocrat  of 
Russia;  and  how  soon  he  may  give  that  nody 
no  one  can  tell. 

To  this  we  would  add,  that  Bishop  Newton, 
Faber,  and  others,  have  remarked,  that  as  soon 
as  the  predictions  of  the  sixth  vial  were  fulfilled, 
or  evidently  fulfilling,  they  would  lead  to  a  more 
clear  understanding  of  all  the  preceding-  pro- 
phecies of  the  Apocalypse.  We  thought  we 
saw  the  predictions  of  that  vial  fulfilled  in  the 
present  state  of  the  Ottoman  empire.  This  led 
us  to  compare  the  other  vials  with  the  events 
in  the  great  revolution  in  France,  and  the 
reader  has  the  result.  We  may  have  been 
mistaken  in  some  of  our  applications;  but  we 
think  we  may  say,  that  they  are  more  accord- 
ant with  the  predictions  on  the  vials  than  any 
which  have  lately  appeared  among  us,  or  that 
we  have  seen. 

The  seventh  vial,  verses  18 — 21,  will  com- 


THE    VIALS.  85 

plete  the  righteous  judgments  of  God  on  his 
implacable  enemies.  It  will  be  poured  out  on 
the  "air,"  or  the  whole  kingdom  of  Satan,  "the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,"  whether  Pa- 
gan, Papal  or  Mahometan.  But  previous  to 
this,  "three  unclean  spirits,  like  frogs,  will 
come  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out 
of  the  mouth  of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  false  prophet,  and  go  to  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  whole  worlds  to 
gather  them  together  to  a  place  called  Arma- 
geddon^ and  where  they  will  be  destroyed 
with  such  a  destruction,  that  it  is  said,  by  a 
bold  hyperbole,  "that  the  blood  will  reach  to 
the  horses'  bridles."  As  not  only  the  kings  of 
the  Latin  earth,  but  "of  the  whole  world,"  will 
be  gathered  together  on  this  occasion;  then, 
by  the  dragon,  we  are  to  understand  Paganism; 
by  the  kings  of  the  earth,  Popery,  for  the 
earth  is  here  distinguished  from  "the  whole 
world ;"  and  by  the  false  prophet,  Mahometan- 
ism.  We  know,  ihat  by  "the  false  prophet," 
some  interpreters  understand  the  Romish  cler- 
gy; because  it  is  said  in  19th  chapter,  "that  he 
will  work  miracles  in  the  sight  of  the  beast." 
We  are  certainly  not  to  understand  by  those 
words,  real  miracles,  or  such  as  were  wrought 
by  the  finger  of  Omnipotence,  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  but 
what  are  called  by  Paul,  "lying  wonders."  And 
if  we  are  to  credit  travellers  of  reputation,  the 
Mahometan  jugglers,  or  Faquirs^  as  they  are 
called,  are  as  expert  at  trick  and  imposture  as 


86  THE    VIALS. 

any  of  the  Romish  clergy  have  been  or  can 
be.  Besides,  in  chap.  19:20,  and  20:10,  and 
in  the  passage  which  we  are  now  examining, 
"the  false  prophet"  is  spoken  of  as  a  person  or 
power  distinct  from  the  beast,  or  Popery;  but 
the  Romish  clergy  are  not  only  a  part,  but  the 
most  efficient  part  of  Popery,  or  "the  Man  of 
sin."  Mahomet  called  himself  "the  prophet  of 
God,"  and  is  so  designated  by  his  followers 
until  this  day;  and  who  has  not  heard  of  that 
frequent  saying  in  the  mouth  of  every  Mussul- 
man,— "There  is  one  God,  and  Mahomet  is 
his  prophet."  John  had  described  the  rise 
and  progress  of  Mahometanism  in  the  5th  and 
6th  trumpets,  but  does  not  there  tell  us  of  the 
future  conduct  and  final  end  of  that  impos- 
ture. This,  we  apprehend,  v/as  his  design  in 
the  passage  now  under  consideration.  That, 
as  there  is  the  same  enmity  and  opposition  to 
the  church  in  Mahometanism,  as  there  is  in 
Popery,  "the  false  prophet,"  as  he  designates 
Mahometanism,  will  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
the  dragon  and  the  beast,  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  it,  but  will  themselves  be  destroyed, 
the  church  saved,  and  the  millennium  com.- 
mence. 

We  will  add  only,  that  the  pouring  out  of 
the  vials  seems  to  be  also  alluded  to  in  the  fif- 
teenth chapter,  under  the  general  symbols  of 
reaping  the  harvest,  and  treading  out  the  vint- 
age. As  there  is  a  cessation  of  labor,  or 
breathing  time,  between  the  labors  of  the  har- 
vest and  the  vintage,  so  it  seems  it  was  to  be  in 


THE    VIALS.  87 

the  pouring  out  of  the  vials.  Mr.  Faber  hmits 
the  vials  of  the  harvest  to  the  first  three,  be- 
cause peace  was  made  between  the  infidel  re- 
public and  the  remaining  powers  of  the  beast, 
in  1801,  when,  as  he  thinks,  the  first  three 
were  poured  out.  }3ut  that  peace  was  very 
short,  and  would  seem  scarcely  to  comport 
with  the  considerable  space  of  time  between 
the  harvest  and  the  vintage.  We  would  rather 
think  that  the  harvest  comprehends  the  first 
five  vials,  as  having  one  great  object  in  view — 
the  infliction  of  the  righteous  judgments  of 
God  on  Papal  Rome;  and  that  the  drying  up 
of  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates,  was  the  breath- 
ing time  for  the  Latin  earth,  for  the  purpose  of 
allowing  them  space  for  repentance;  and  that 
the  vintage  is  to  be  confined  to  the  seventh  and 
last  vial,  and  which  will  be  poured  out  on  the 
kings  of  the  Latin  earth,  and  of  the  whole 
world,  because  they  "repented  not;"  but  waged, 
war  against  God  and  "his  anointed." 


CHAPTER  V. 

MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

The  reader  is  not  to  expect  that  any  new  to- 
pic of  importance  will  be  introduced  and  dis- 
cussed in  this  chapter.  Our  object  is,  to  ex- 
plain some  things  more  fully;  to  obviate  some 
objections  that  have  been  made;  and  to  give 
our  opinion  on  some  subordinate  questions  that 
may  be  asked  relative  to  the  beasts,  or  powers, 
whose  character  and  agency  we  have  noticed 
and  discussed  in  the  two  last  chapters.  To 
have  given  a  full  explanation  of  such  things 
when  under  discussion,  would  rather  have  ob- 
scured than  shed  light  on  the  different  points; 
and  we,  therefore,  thought  it  better  to  defer, 
and  take  them  up  again  in  a  separate  chapter. 

It  will  be  remembered,  that  while  delineating 
the  character  and  doings  of  th^  "Man  of  sin," 
we  dated  his  birth,  or  rise,  in  the  year  533, 
founded  on  the  edict  of  the  emperor  Justinian, 
appointing  him  "head  over  all  the  holy  church- 
es." Mr.  Faber  dates  his  rise,  or  birth,  in 
606,  on  tfie  edict  of  the  Emperor  Phocas,  ap- 
pointing him  "universal  Bishop,  and  head  over 
all  other  churches."  Mr.  Faber  was  not  igno- 
rant of  the  edict  or  grant  of  Justinian,  but 
thinks  that  it  was  not  so  full  and  extensive,  as 


^0  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

^that  of  Phocas.  But  we  can  see  little  or  no 
difference  between  the  words— "head  over  all 
the  holy  churches,"  and  "universal  Bishop,  and 
head  over  all  other  churches."  The  word 
"a7/,"  in  the  one  grant,  is  surely  as  extensive  as 
the  word  "universal,"  in  the  other.  The  grant 
of  Phocas  was  only  a  confirmation  of  that  of 
Justinian. 

It  will  be  also  remembered,  that  we  further 
differed  from  the  above  respectable  writer  in 
regard  to  the  Apocalyptic  witnesses,  and  the 
beast  who  was  to  slay  them,  and  the  time  they 
would  be  slain.  As  already  remarked  in  the 
third  chapter,  he  understands,  by  the  witnesses, 
the  Jewish  and  christian  churches,  but  spirit- 
ually, "the  mystic  children  of  the  universal 
church."  That  they  were  slain  in  the  persons 
of  the  Protestant  reformers,  when  they  were 
defeated  in  the  batde  of  Mulburgh,  in  1547, 
and  arose  from  the  dead  in  ]  550,  when  they 
gained  the  battle  of  Magdeburgh,  whereby  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion  was  secured  to 
them  by  treaty. 

To  this  it  was  objected,  that  as  the  witnesses 
were  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth  during  the  12(50 
years,  the  allotted  reign  of  the  "Man  of  sin," 
and  were  not  to  be  slain  until  his  reign,  as  a 
persecutor,  was  to  expire;  then,  according  to 
Mr.  Faber's  sheme,  they  were  slain  219  years 
before  the  time  of  their  death  designated  by 
John.  Besides,  such  an  interpretation  in  re- 
spect to  the  witnesses,  is  too  indefinite;  but  the 
prophecies  are  definite  and  precise,  that  when 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  91 

they  are  fulfilled  the  fact  may  be  seen  and  as- 
certained. For  although  there  have  been  per- 
sons during  the  whole  dominant  reign  of  the 
^'Man  of  sin,"  who  did  not  comply  with  his  er- 
rors, superstition  and  idolatiy,  and  who  consti- 
tuted the  uncorrupted  church;  yet  they  were 
not  visible,  but  hid  in  the  wilderness;  and  no 
two  visible  churches,  composed  of  such,  have 
been  or  can  be  traced  during  those  1260  years, 
whether  we  will  date  their  beginning  in  533  or 
606.  Mr.  Keith  and  some  others  have  adduc- 
ed the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses,  as  those  two 
witnesses.  But  the  Albigenses  were  not  known 
until  the  11th  and  the  Waldenses  until  the  14th 
century ;  whereas,  the  witnesses  were  to  pro- 
phesy during  the  1260  years,  or  tho  dominant 
reign  of  the  "Man  of  sin."* 

Mr.  Faber's  position,  that  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  churches  as  witnesses,  were  symbol- 
ized by  two  olive  trees,  and  two  candlesticks 
in  Rev.  2:2,  and  Zech.  4: 14,  is,  we  think,  as 
untenable  as  what  he  has  said  respecting  the 
Protestant  Reformers.  The  external  structure 
and  ordinances  of  the  church  of  God,  from 

*  In  defence  of  Ms  scheme,  that  the  witnesses  were  slain  in 
1547,  Mr.  Fabexifbserves,  that  the  Greek  word  telesosif  in  our  trans- 
lation, "when  they  shall  have  finished,"  generally  bears  a  kind  of 
future  significalion,  and  he  accordingly  translates  the  beginning  of 
the  7th  verse  thus: — "When  they  shall  draw  near  to  the  close  of 
their  testimony."  Admitting  the  translation  to  be  correct,  still  219 
years  is  too  long  a  period  for  the  finishing  of  the  event.  It  is  near- 
ly a  fifth  part  of  the  whole  period  of  1260  years.  Besides,  such  a 
loose  and  indefinite  manner  of  interpretation  is  contrary  to  a  cor- 
rect rule  laid  down  by  himself — that  where  a  precise  time  is  men- 
tioned for  the  completion  of  a  prediction,  every  application  of  an 
event  to  that  prediction,  that  does  not  quadrate  with  the  very  year, 
ie  necessarily  unsound  and  false. 

9 


92  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

Abraham  to  Christ,  expired  with  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  therefore  cannot  be  one  of  the 
witnesses.  In  Coloss.  2:14,  the  Apostle  Paul, 
speaking  of  the  ordinances  of  that  church,  or 
the  church  under  the  Jewish  dispensation, 
calls  them  ''a  hand-writing  of  ordinances  that 
was  against  us,  and  contrary  to  us;"  and  then 
affirms  ^'that  Christ  blotted  it  out,  and  took  it 
out  of  the  way,  naihng  it  to  his  cross."  And 
although  the  seven  churches  in  Asia  were  com- 
pared to  seven  candlesticks,  and  the  church,  as 
a  collective  body,  is  compared  by  Jeremiah 
and  Paul  to  an  '-olive  tree," — we  do  not  know 
that  it  is  compared  to  two  olive  trees  and  two 
candlesticks.  Besides,  it  is  Joshua  and  Zeru- 
habel,  the  one  a  priest  and  the  other  a  magis- 
trate, who  are  compared  to  two  olive  trees  and 
two  candlesticks  by  the  prophet  Zechariah. 

And  here  we  would  remark  by  the  way,  that 
we  have  seen  and  heard  '-ministry  and  magis- 
tracy," as  intended  by  the  two  Apocalyptic  wit- 
nesses, and  the  passage  from  Zechariah,  which 
we  are  now  considering,  adduced  as  a  proof 
It  may  be  sufficient  to  say  to  this  scheme  of  in- 
terpretation, that  its  advocates  will  not  pretend 
to  find  a  ministry  and  magistracy  which  they 
would  admit  to  be  pure  and  scriptural  during 
the  reign  of  "the  Man  of  sin;"  for  let  it  be  re- 
membered, that  the  witnesses,  whoever  they 
were  or  are,  were  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth  the 
whole  time  of  the  1260  years. 

And  to  this  it  may  be  sufficient  to  add,  that 
the  character  given  to  the  Apocalyptic  witness- 
es,— "their  being  two  olive  trees  and  two  can- 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  93 

diesticks,  or  symbolically  furnishing  the  church 
with  holy  unction  and  light;  their  prophesying, 
in  whatever  sense  you  may  nnderstand  the 
word ;  their  having  one  mouth,  or  teaching  the 
same  things;  and  fire  proceeding  out  of  their 
mouth;  their  having  power  to  shut  heaven,  that 
it  rain  not  in  the  days  of  the  prophecy;  their 
having  power  over  the  waters  to  turn  them  to 
blood,  and  to  smite  the  earth  witii  all  plagues 
as  often  as  they  will;" — these  acts,  although 
figurative,  cannot  with  propriety  be  applied  to 
any  men  however  good;  to  any  churches  how- 
ever pure;  or  to  any  officers  civil  or  ecclesias- 
tic, however  upright;  but  are  properly  applica- 
ble to  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  as  contain- 
ing a  revelation  of  the  character  and  will  of 
God  to  man,  containing  divine  warnings  and 
threatenings,  and  denouncing  the  wrath  of  God 
on  die  impenitent,  incorrigible  and  persecuting 
enemies  of  his  church.  The  preceding  obser- 
vations, we  think,  obviate  Mr.  Faber's  objec- 
tions in  the  10th  chapter  of  his  book,  to  the 
scriptures  being  the  two  Apocalyptic  witnesses 
for  Christ  and  his  truth. 

It  will  be  also  remembered,  that  we  differ 
from  our  author  respecting  the  beast,  or  power 
that  was  to  slay,  and  we  think  has  slain  the 
symbolical  witnesses.  This  beast  is  character- 
ized in  llth  chapter  of  the  Revelation  as  ris- 
ing out  of  "the  bottomless  pit,"  and  which  Mr. 
Faber  identifies  with  the  beast  ''having  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns,  and  on  his  heads  the 
names    of  blasphemy;"    or   in   other    words. 


94  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

Popery,  or  "the  Man  of  sin,"  because  it  is  said  in 
the  17th  chapter,  that  this  beast  ascended  out  of 
the  bottomless  pit  also.  But  this,  we  think,  is 
said  of  him  in  reference  to  the  wickedness  of 
his  character  only ;  whereas  the  distinctive  fea- 
ture of  his  character  as  described  in  the  13th 
chapter  is,  "that  he  arose  out  of  the  sea,"  or 
the  convulsed  state  of  the  Roman  empire;  and 
the  distinctive  feature  of  the  character  of  the 
beast  that  was  to  slay  the  witnesses,  is  simply, 
that  he  ascended  out  of  "the  bottomless  pit," 
having  the  quintessence  not  of  some  peculiar 
kind  of  wickedness,  but  of  all  wickedness,  in 
and  of  himself.  This  infernal  monster,  we 
have  siiovvn  from  Mr.  Faber's  own  exposition 
of  the  illh  chapter  of  Daniel's  prophecies,  was 
the  real  Antichrist,  or  the  power  that  denied 
both  the  Father  and  the  Son,  1  John  2:22;  but 
which  Popery,  bad  as  it  is,  never  has  done, 
and  was  alone  fitted  to  slay  the  witnesses,  and 
slew  them  in  France,  when  its  atheistical  and 
deistical  convention  in  1793  abolished  all  reli- 
gion, the  Popish  religion  included;  and  that 
too,  1260  years  after  Justinian  appointed  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  "Head  over  all  the  Holy 
churches.^     This  was  the  end  for  which  he 

*  And  yet  there  is  a  sense  in  which  an  identity  of  the  beast  that 
slew  the  witnesses,  and  of  the  beast  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns, 
may  be  predicated,  inasmuch  as  the  one  sprung  from  the  other. 
That  it  is  the  ancient  Roman  empire  in  its  Papal  form  tliat  Dan- 
iel alludes  to  in  chapter  11:36,  will  be  evident  we  think  to  any  one 
who  will  closely  inspect  the  several  features  of  his  character.  He 
is  first  described  in  that  verse  "as  exalting  himself,  and  magnify, 
ing  himself  above  every  god,  and  speaking  marvellous  things 
against  the  God  of  gods."  This  perfectly  coincides  with  the  char- 
acter given  of  the  same  power  by  Paul  in  2  Thess.  2:4,  under  the 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS,  95 

was  permitted  to  appear  in  the  world;  and 
whether  he  will  be  pertiiitted  to  appear  and  act 
again,  we  will  not  positively  say;  but  probably 
he  will  again  appear  and  act  under  his  father, 

symbol  of  "the  Man  of  sin,  and  son  of  perdition,"  "who  opposeth 
and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  is  worshipped; 
so  that  he  as  God  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that 
he  is  God:"  and  indeed  it  would  seem  that  Paul  has  borrowed  his 
description  and  diction  from  Daniel.  But  this  was  only  his  charac- 
ter in  what  may  be  called  his  manhood;  and  bad  and  blasphemous 
as  it  is,  Daniel  exhibits  in  the  37th  verse  an  additional  feature 
which  appeared  in  his  old  age,  and  M^hich  made  him  "the  Man  of 
sin,  and  son  of  perdition"  indeed: — "Neither  shall  he  regard  the 
God  of  his  fathers,  nor  the  desire  of  women,  nor  regard  any  god, 
for  he  shall  magnify  himself  above  all."  The  reader  need  not  be 
told  that  this  feature  of  his  character,  of  not  regarding  any  god; 
is  .perfectly  atheistical,  and  cannot  be  predicated  of  any  power 
that  has  been,  or  is,  but  the  national  convention  of  France  in  1793; 
and  let  it  be  remembered  that  that  convention  sprung  from  the 
church  of  Rome,  or  were  born  and  educated  in  its  pale. 

As  for  the  isolated  expression,  "the  desire  of  women,"  Mr.  Faber 
thinks  that  it  has  reference  to  the  rejection  of  Christ  by  that  con- 
vention; but  may  it  not  have  reference  to  their  abolishing  the  mar- 
riage relation  and  connection,  which  women  as  the  weaker  vessels 
properly  desire,  that  they  may  have  a  friend  and  protector  through 
life, — "and  thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband." — Gen.  3:16. 

And  may  not  what  is  said  of  this  king  or  power  in  the  38th  verse, 
of  his  "honoring  the  God  of  forces,"  refer  to  the  warlike  charac- 
ter of  the  atheistical  republic,  and  the  disposition  which  they  man- 
ifested, and  the  efforts  which  tliey  made  to  subjugate  ali  the  sur- 
rounding nations.  And  may  not  what  is  said  of  his  "honoring  a 
God  which  his  fathers  knew  not,"  also  refer  to  the  convention  wor- 
shipping, in  the  Champ  de  Mars  of  Paris,  "the  goddess  of  Reason," 
in  the  person  of  an  infamous  woman,  seated  on  an  altar,  and  deck- 
ed with  "gold  and  silver,  and  precious  stones."  The  circumstance 
of  the  French  people  returning  again  to  Popery,  furnishes  no  argu- 
ment against  our  views  and  interpretation  of  this  passage.  For  as 
we  are  told  in  chapter  7:12,  that  tlie  lives  of  the  Babylonian,  Per- 
sian, and  Macedonian  beasts  were  prolonged  after  their  power  to 
persecute  was  taken  away;  so  was  it  to  be  with  the  Roman  beast. 
And  as  to  what  is  said  in  the  40th  verse,  of  the  king  of  the  South 
pushing  at  him,  and  the  king  of  the  North  coming  against  him  like 
a  whirlwind,  with  chariots  and  Ijorscmen,  &c. — we  think  it  is  fu- 
ture, and  will  be  accomplished  some  short  time  prior  to  tfie  battle 
of  Armageddon,  when,  it  is  said  in  the  close  of  the  chapter,  "lie 
will  come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him." 

9* 


96  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

the  devil,  or  the  Old  Dragon  in  the  battle  of 
Armageddon,  in  conjunction  with  the  beast 
that  arose  "out  of  the  sea,"  and  "the  false  pro- 
phet," or  Mahometanism,  and  be  finally  de- 
stroyed with  them.  As  we  are  now  to  dismiss 
this  point,  and  not  to  resume  it  particularly,  we 
would  remark,  that  it  is  not  proper  to  call  the 
Pope  antichrist,  or  Popery  antichristian.  Pa- 
pists complain  of  it,  and  not  unjustly;  for  as 
John  says,  "He  is  Antichrist  who  denieth  the 
Father  and  the  Son."  The  proper  name  of 
Popery  as  given  by  Paul  is,  "the  Man  of  sin," 
and  "the  wicked  one,  whom  God  shall  con- 
sume with  the  Spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall 
destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming." — 
2Thess.  2:3— 1-2. 

Althougli  we  agree  with  Faber,  that  the  sev- 
enth trumpet  has  sounded,  and  that  some  of  the 
vials  have  been  poured  out,  and  are  now  pour- 
ino^  out  on  the  irreclaimable  enemies  of  Christ's 
church  and  people,  yet  he  thinks  that  the  dom- 
inant or  persecuting  reign  of  the  "Man  of  sin," 
will  not  end  until  the  year  1866.  This  was 
forced  upon  him  by  what  we  believe  to  be  a 
false  date  of  his  rise,  and  shows  the  necessity 
and  importance  of  correct  first  principles;  as 
one  error,  in  every  science,  necessarily  leads  to 
another.  We  have  thought,  however,  that  the 
dominant  reign  of  the  "Man  of  sin"  ceased  in 
1793,  as  the  vials  were  to  be  poured  out 
"quickly,"  when  that  event  should  take  place; 
that  the  first  five  have  been  poured  out  on  the 
Popish  nations  in  Europe  in  an  especial  man- 


MISCELLANEOUS   OBSERVATIONS.  97 

ner,  during  the  French  revolution,  which  com- 
menced in  1789;  and  that  the  sixth  is  now 
pouring  out  on  the  Ottoman  empire.  If  they 
have  not  been  poured  out  at  that  time,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  none  of  them  have  been  poured  out 
as  yet;  as  no  events,  since  that  time,  can  justify 
such  an  apphcation.  But  who  is  there,  who 
has  reflected  on  that  tremendous  explosion,  or 
revolution, — the  changes  which  it  has  produced 
in  all  the  Popish  countries  in  Europe, — the 
calamities  which  it  brought  on  all  the  surround- 
ing nations, — the  unheard  of  blasphemy,  wick- 
edness and  anarchy  which  attended  it  in  its 
various  stages, — the  torrents  of  blood  which  ac- 
companied it, — the  length  of  its  duration,  and 
the  effect  which  it  had  and  has  produced  on 
the  church  of  God; — who  is  there,  we  say, 
who  reflects  on  those  events,  but  will  be  con- 
strained to  say,  that  it  was  undoubtedly  a  prom- 
inent part  of  John's  visions,  and  an  especial 
subject  of  prophecy.  As  all  the  vials  were  to 
be  poured  out  on  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  of 
his  church,  in  applying  the  events  of  that  revolu- 
tion to  the  predictions  in  the  vials,  or  the  pre- 
dictions to  the  events,  we  were  fully  satisfied 
in  our  mind  with  respect  to  the  applications, 
the  fifth  vial  excepted.  That  vial  was  to  be 
poured  out  on  Rome  and  its  dependencies,  as 
"the  seat  of  the  beast,"  not  to  destroy  it,  for  its 
final  destruction  is  the  subject  of  another  pro- 
phecy in  the  18th  chapter,  but  to  lessen  its  in- 
fluence so,  as  Dr.  Scott  expresses  it,  "as  to 
darken  the  whole  antichristian  empire."     As 


98  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

the  prophecies  follow  each  other  in  regular 
chronological  order,  we  saw  no  event  in  the 
course  of  the  French  revolution  that  could  be 
applied  to  this  prediction,  but  the  circumstance 
of  Bonaparte's  compelling  Pope  Pius  Vll.  to 
cross  the  Alps  in  the  depth  of  winter,  for  the 
purpose  of  crowning  him  the  Emperor  of  the 
French;  and  afterwards  disannulling  the  pow- 
er and  independence  of  the  See  of  Rome  in 
France  and  Italy,  and  declaring  his  son  ''the 
King  of  Rome."  As  that  act  was  rescinded 
at  the  restoration  of  Louis  XVIII.  and  the 
catholic  rehgion  re-estabhshed  as  the  religion 
of  France,  it  may  have  been  thought  that  the 
above  act  of  Bonaparte  was  not  a  fulfilment  of 
the  prediction,  and  as  observed,  we  had  some 
doubts  on  the  point.  But  let  it  be  remember- 
ed, that  although  the  Popisli  religion  was  re- 
established in  France  by  Louis  XVIII.  yet  all 
other  religious  sects  w^ere  tolerated,  which  had 
not  been  the  case  since  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes  by  Louis  XIV.  The  power  of 
the  Pope  was  therefore  not  restored  as  former- 
ly, but  remained  under  an  eclipse.  And  not 
only  was  this  the  case,  but  the  results  of  the 
last  revolution  in  France  have  strengthened,  if 
not  confirmed  our  exposition  of  the  fifth  vial. 
By  the  present  charter,  or  constitution  of  that 
nation,  the  re-establishment  of  the  catholic  re- 
ligion has  been  revoked,  the  Pope's  nuncio  or 
ambassador  dismissed,  and  the  free  exercise 
of  religion  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the 
charter.   And  to  this  may  be  added,  that  Spain 


3IISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  99 

and  Portugal,  where  Popery  has  reigned  for 
ages  past  without  opposition,  have  virtually  re- 
nounced their  allegiance  to  the  See  of  Rome. 
The  abave  act  of  Bonaparte  was  the  incipient 
step  that  led  to  this  unexpected  consummation, 
in  a  nation  whose  former  sovereigns,  Pepin 
and  Charlemagne,  relieved  the  Pope  more  than 
once,  when  reduced  to  the  last  extremity  by 
the  Goths,  and  bestowed  upon  him  his  Ilalian 
dominions.  May  not  all  these  events  be  the 
commencement  of  the  fulfilling  of  the  prophe- 
cy in  the  18th  chapter,  ''that  the  iO  horns,"  or 
kingdoms  into  which  the  Roman  empire  was 
divided,  "shall  hate  the  whore,  and  make  her 
desolate  and  naked,  and  eat  her  flesh,  and 
burn  her  with  fire."  The  intelligent  reader 
need  not  be  told  that  France  is  the  prmcipal  of 
those  kingdoms  that  gave  their  power  to  the 
Papal  beast,  that  remains  in  its  original  state; 
whereas  some  of  the  other  kingdoms  have  dis- 
appeared, and  some  have  renounced  their  alle- 
giance to  Rome.  But  here  it  may  be  asked,— 
I.  What  are  we  to  understand  by  the  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns  of  this  beast,  as  he  is  de- 
scribed in  the  13th  chapter,  and  what  are  the 
names  of  blasphemy  which  are  said  to  be  on 
those  heads?  In  chap.  17:9,  10,  an  interpret-, 
ing  angel  informed  John  that  the  7  heads  de- 
noted "seven  mountains  on  which  the  ivoman 
sitteth;"  another  symbol  of  this  empire  in  its 
Papal  form;  but  "a  woman  drunken  with  the 
blood  of  the  saints."  And  who  does  not  know 
that  Rome,  the  metropolis  of  this  empire,  is 


iOO  MISCJELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

built  on  7  hills.  And  as  Rome  was  the  seat 
of  government  of  that  empire  in  both  its  Pagan 
and  Papal  state;  then,  analogically,  the  seven 
heads  denoted  also  the  seven  different  forms  of 
government  which  that  empire  would  assume. 
These  may  be  thus  specified:  ist.  Kings; 
2d.  Consuls;  3d.  Dictators;  4th.  Decemvirs; 
5th.  Military  Tribunes;  6th.  Emperors;  7th. 
Popes,  or  Papal.  'I'his  last  head  is  not  admit- 
ted by  Mr.  Faber;  but  in  no  other  sense  can 
we  understand  what  is  said  in  chapter  13:2, 
that  the  dragon  gave  the  beast  with  7  heads 
and  10  horns,  '4iis  power  and  his  seat,  and 
great  authority."  If  these  words  do  not  im- 
port supreme  rule,  we  do  not  know  that  words 
could  be  selected  to  convey  the  idea.  And  as 
if  to  silence  every  doubt  on  this  point,  in  chap- 
ter 17:13,  it  is  said  of  the  ten  kings,  "These 
have  one  mind,  and  shall  give  their  power  and 
strength  to  the  beast."  Besides,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  and  that  the  empire  might  have  an 
existence,  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  have 
a  visible  head,  and  directing  controling  power; 
but  there  was  no  visible  head,  the  Popes  ex- 
cepted, for  near  400  years,  until  Charlemagne, 
in  the  ninth  century,  erected  what  is  called  the 
Carlovingian  empire,  which  looked  more  hke 
the  sixth  head  than  a  separate  head,  which  Mr 
Faber  says  it  was:  both  were  imperial. 

But  it  is  said  in  chapter  17:11,  that  this 
beast  had  "an  eighth  head,  which  was  of  the 
seven,"  and  called  by  some  a  septimo-octave 
head ;  and  it  may  be  asked,  what  was  this  eighth 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  101 

head?  This  is  a  difficult  point,  and  as  was  to 
be  expected,  there  is  a  diversity  of  opinion 
among  interpreters  and  commentators.  Mr. 
Faber  says,  "that  it  was  the  Patriciate  of  Rome, 
merged  in  the  Carlovingian  Emperorsliip;"  or, 
that  whileCharlemagne  was  Patrician  of  Rome,, 
he  was  the  7th  head;  but  when  he  became  em- 
peror, he  was  the  8th  head,  the  7th  and  8th 
heads  being  amalgamated  in  his  person.  We 
confess  that  we  are  slow  to  conceive  how  a 
man's  being  a  Patrician  of  Rome,  could  make 
him  the  7th  head  of  the  Roman  empire,  or  that 
the  whole  Patriciate  could  be  that  head.  It 
was  too  inconsiderable  in  itself;  and  besides, 
was  nominally  at  least,  subject  to  the  Eastern 
empire  until  the  year  800. 

Bishop  Newton  and  some  others  say,  that  it 
was  the  Pope  of  Rome  in  his  two-fold  charac- 
ter of  head  of  the  church  and  a  temporal  prince. 
But  this  scheme  has  also  its  difficulties,  inas- 
much as  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Pope,  the 
7th  head,  instead  of  "continuing  a  short  space," 
(Rev.  17:10,)  continued  for  1260  years.  But 
as  already  remarked,  this,  although  a  difficult 
point,  stands  not  in  the  way  of  our  understand- 
ing the  general  and  material  prophecies  of  the 
Revelation;  and  to  point  out  the  fulfilment  of 
these,  as  far  as  we  think  they  have  been  fulfil- 
led, is  our  main  object  and  design.  We  have 
the  evidence  of  facts,  and  we  think  of  the  word 
itself,  that  the  Papacy  is  the  7th  head  of  the 
beast,  and  that  may  be  sufficient  for  understand- 
ing the  principal  prophecies,  although  we  may 


10:2  MISCELLAJXEOUS    OBSERVATIOJSS. 

not  be  able  to  ascertain  satisfactorily  what 
power  constituted  ''the  eighth  head,  and  which 
was  of"  the  seven."* 

*  All  the  information  which  we  have,  relative  to  the  8th  head  of 
the  Roman  beast,  is  to  be  found  in  Rev.  17th  eh.  10th  and  11th  v. 
"And  there  are  seven  kings,"  or  heads  of  government;  "five  are 
fallen;  one  is,  and  the  other  is  not  yet  come;  and  when  he  cometh 
he  must  continue  a  short  space.  And  the  beast  that  was,  and  is 
not,  he  is  the  eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven,  and  goeth  into  perdi- 
tion." 

The  form,  or  head  of  government  that  existed  when  these  words 
were  written,  was  imperial,  or  that  of  emperors.  The  difficulty  of 
ascertaining  who  the  eighth  head  of  government  was,  lies  in  what 
is  apparently  said  of  the  7th  head,  as  it  is  pointed  in  our  transla- 
tion— "that  when  he  cometh,  he  must  continue  a  short  space."  We 
have  assigned  reasons  why  we  think  that  the  8th  head  cannot  be 
predicated  of  the  Carlovingian  empire,  nor  yet  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Pope  of  Rome.  But  if  the  words  of  the  10th  verse, 
"And  when  he  cometh,  he  must  continue  a  short  space,"  can  be 
fairly  applied  to  the  8th,  and  not  to  the  7th  head;  and  if  not  only  a 
resemblance,  but  an  identity  of  component  parts  and  actors  in  the 
7th  and  8th  heads,  is  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  8th  head; 
then  Revolutionary  France,  from  1789  to  the  deposition  of  Bona- 
parte, has  all  the  characteristics  of  the  8th  head  of  the  Roman 
beast.  The  first  supposition  will  be  realized  by  putting  a  period  or 
full-stop  after  the  words  in  the  10th  verse — "tAe  other  is  not  yet 
come"  as  is  the  case  in  the  oldest  editions  of  the  Greek  Testament, 
as  R.  Stephens'  in  1630,  and  Leusden's  in  1698;  and  reading  the 
remainder  of  the  verse,  with  the  11th  verse,  thus:  "And  when  he 
cometh,  (he  must  continue  a  short  space,)  even  {kai)  the  beast  that 
was,  and  is  not,  and  he  is  the  eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven,  and  goeth 
into  perdition,"  If  this  criticism  be  just,  then,  as  said,  the  8th 
head  may  be  predicated  of  Revolutionary  France.  She  became  a 
republic,  and  while  a  republic,  she  had  her  Consuls^  and  thus  re- 
sembled the  consular  form  of  government.  She  became  imperial, 
and  while  imperial,  was  the  head  and  protector  of  what  was  called 
"The  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,"  and  which  embraced,  if  not  the 
whole,  yet  the  greatest  part  of  the  Cailovingian  empire;  and  thus 
resembled  the  imperial  form  of  government.  And  as  to  an  identity 
of  component  parts  and  actors,  as  implied  in  the  words,  "and  he  is 
of  the  seven," — who  does  not  know  that  the  French  revolutionists 
sprung  from  the  Papacy,  or  the  church  of  Rome.  And  who  does  not 
also  know^  that  many  of  the  firmest  supporters  of  the  Papacy,  as 
Talleyrand,  Bishop  of  Autun,  and  Gobert,  Vicar  General  of  Paris, 
&c.  became  violent  Revolutionists,  and  Deists,  or  Atheists.  *^^And 
he  continued  a  short  space;"  or,  the  whole  "vanished  as  the  baseless 
fabric  of  a  vision,"  when  Bonaparte  was  deposed.  And  as  a  neces- 
sary preparative  for  the  appearance  of  this  head,  in  the  course  of 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  103 

As  for  the  names  of  blasphemy  upon  these 
heads,  besides  what  might  be  collected  from 
epithets  gi\^en  to  Elome  in  its  Pagan  state,  as 
Hhe  eternal  city,"  &c.  the  following  may  suf- 
fice as  given  to  the  Pope  who  has  his  seat  there, 
l)y  Popish  writers;  and  it  is  evident  that  it  is  to 
the  empire  under  its  Papal  head,  that  John  re- 
fers: Infallibility, — His  Holiness, — Vicar  of 
Christ, — God  upon  earth,-:-and  our  Lord  God 
the  Pope.  And  if  this  is  not  blasphemy,  and 
most  awtlii  blasphemy,  we  do  not  know  what 
blasphemy  is. 

the  revolution  an  end  was  put  to  the  Papal  head  of  government  by 
Bonaparte,  in  iinpiisoningf  the  Pope,  abolishing  the  Papal  power  in 
France  and  Italy,  assuming  to  himself  the  crown  of  Italy,  and  de- 
claring his  son  to  be  king  "of  Rome.  Thus,  ''the  beast  that  tca«," 
or  existed  under  an  imperial  and  Papal  form  of  government,  and  in 
'both  persecuted  the  true  religion,  assumed  a  new  form  in  Revolu- 
tionary France,  that  persecuted  all  religion,  "and  is  not,  and  went 
into  perdition,^''  by  France  returning  to  her  former  state,  renouncing 
persecution,  and  proclaiming  in  her  last  political  charter  or  consti- 
tution, the  free  exercise  of  religion  to  all  men. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  in  support  of  the  opinion  that  Revolu- 
tionary France  may  have  been  the  8th  head  of  the  Roman  beast, 
we  proposed  putting  a  period,  or  full-stop,  after  the  words  in  the 
10th  verse — "the  other  is  not  yet  come,"  and  reading  the  remain- 
der of  the  verse  with  the  11th,  as  is  the  punctuation  in  Stephens' 
and  Leusden's  Greek  Testaments.  To  this  it  may  be  objected,  that 
the  Greek  point  (•)  is  used  only  where  we  use  the  colon  in  English 
punctuation.  It  is  admitted  that  it  is  most  frequently  the  case;  but 
instances  can  be  produced  from  the  most  correct  Greek  writers,  and 
from  the  Greek  Testament,  which  show  that  they  use  it  also  where 
we  use  the  period.  It  may  be  also  objected,  that  Dr.  Campbell,  in 
the  12th  preliminary  dissertation  to  his  translation  of  the  four  Gos- 
pels, atfirms,  "that  in  the  most  ancient  manuscripts  there  were 
neither  points  nor  accents,  and  hardly  a  division  in  the  words;"  and 
that  ecclesiastical  historians  say  that  the  Greek  point  was  not  in- 
troduced  until  the  fifth  century,  or  perhaps  later.  All  this  is  ad- 
mitted;  and  as  it  respects  the  subject  in  hand,  the  question  is,  what 
did  it  designate  when  introduced?  This,  we  think,  will  appear 
manifest  to  all  who  will  carefully  observe  the  places  where  it  is 
used — that  it  was  designed  to  advertise  the  reader,  that  the  mean- 

10 


104  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

In  chap.  17:12,  the  same  interpreting  angel 
informed  John,  that  the  ten  horns  denoted  ten 
kings,  or  kingdoms,  into  which  the  Roman  em- 
pire was  divided  after  the  year  476.  In  his 
comment  on  Dan.  7:6,  Dr.  Scott  has  given  us 
a  list  of  those  kingdoms,  as  they  existed  in  the 
8th  century.  In  vol.  2d,  page  128,  Mr.  Faber 
has  given  us  another  list,  with  a  small  but  not 
material  variation.  J.  The  kingdom  of  the 
Huns.  2.  The  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths. 
3.  The  kingdom  of  the  Tisigoths.  4.  The 
kingdom  of  the  Franks.  5.  The  kingdom  of 
the  Vandals.  6.  The  kingdom -of  the  Sueves, 
and  Alans.  7.  The  kingdom  of  the  Burgun- 
dians.     8.  The  kingdom  of  the  Heruli,  Rugii, 


ing  of  the  clause  or  clauses  preceding  it,  is  complete  in  itself,  and 
that  what  follows  is  a  distinct  proposition,  although  connected  with 
the  main  subject,  and  perliaps  necessary  to  illustrate  it  further,  or 
to  enforce  it.  Now,  as  the  first  editors  of  the  Greek  Testament 
have  placed  this  point  in  the  verse  alluded  to,  and  where  we  have 
mentioned,  the  presumption  is  fair,  that  they  found  it  in  the  manu- 
scripts from  which  they  printed;  and  this  is  a  proof  that  they  who 
first  introduced  it,  thought  that  the  words — "And  when  he  cometh," 
had  reference  to  a  new  and  distinct  subject,  although  connected 
with  what  went  before.  And  if  reading  it  so  does  not  obscure 
that  which  precedes  it,  as  it  certainly  does  not;  and  if  it  will  solve 
a  difficult  question  respecting  the  8th  head  of  the  Roman  beastj 
then,  we  think,  that  it  ought  to  be  preferred,  the  omission  of  it, 
by  some  modern  editors  of  the  Greek  Testament,  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  It  is  left  with  the  reader  to  decide  this  question 
for  himself;  for,  after  all,  the  propriety  and  fitness  of  punctuation, 
in  any  language,  must  depend  on  its  not  obscuring,  but  presenting 
the  subject  discussed  in  a  clear  point  of  light.  The  reader  will 
have  observed  that  we  have  not  proposed  any  alteration  in  the 
words  of  the  sacred  text,  nor  affixed  any  meaning  to  them  that  is 
not  sanctioned  by  prescriptive  consent  and  usage.  The  words  of 
the  text  aie  sacred,  and  ought  not  to  be  questioned  where  there  is  no 
various  reading;  but  which  is  not  the  case  in  the  verses  which  we 
have  been  examining;  but  not  so  is  the  punctuatioUj  whether  ancient 
or  modern. 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  105 

Scyrri,  and  other  tribes  that  composed  the 
ItaHan  kingdom  of  Odoacer.  9.  The  kingdom 
of  the  Saxons.  10.  The  kingdom  of  the  Lom- 
bards. 

2.  It  may  be  asked, — in  what  sense  this 
"beast  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is?"  chap.  17:8. 
A  beast  is  the  symbol  of  an  idolatrous  and  per- 
secuting power.  He  was  an  idolatrous  and 
persecuting  power  in  his  Pagan  state;  ceased 
to  be  such  under  Constantino  and  the  Christian 
emperors;  and  again  became  idolatrous  and 
persecuting  in  his  Papal  form. 

3.  It  may  be  asked, — what  was  the  deadly 
wound  which  this  beast  received  by  a  sword, 
and  how  was  it  healed?  as  stated  in  chap.  13:8. 

Some  understand  this  wound  as  having  re- 
ference to  the  subversion  of  the  Western  part 
of  the  empire  in  476,  and  healed  by  Charle- 
magne, who  revived  it  in  the  year  800;  and 
which  continued  in  the  German  empire  until 
that  empire  was  dissolved  by  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte during  the  French  revolution.  But  others, 
with  whom  we  rather  accord,  understand  it 
as  having  reference  to  what  we  have  just 
now  stated:  the  beast,  as  a  persecuting  power, 
received  "a  deadly  wound''  by  the  accession  of 
Constantino  to  Christianity  and  the  imperial 
throne,  and  healed  as  soon  as  "the  Man  of  sin" 
arrived  at  age  and  strength  to  persecute  the 
church  of  God  again. 

4.  It  may  be  further  asked, — who  was  the 
"Man-child"  mentioned  in  ch.  12:3,  and  whom 
the  "woman."  or  the  church,  brought  forth  in 


106  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS* 

distressed  circumstances,  and  "the  great  red 
dragon  waited  to  devour  as  soon  as  it  should 
be  born?'^  Mr.  Faber  confesses  that  he  has 
not  seen,  and  cannot  give  any  interpretation  of 
this  passage  that  is  satisfactory  to  himself;  and 
accordingly  he  calls  it  '•'•crux  criticorum^''  or 
the  cross  of  critics.  But  we  have  not  seen  any 
solid  reason  why  it  may  not  be  applied  to  Con- 
stantino, the  first  christian  emperor.  To  this 
Mr.  Faber  objects,  that  "the  little  book,'^ 
of  which  this  passage  is  a  part,  has  special  re- 
ference to  the  1260  years,  or  the  reign  of  the 
Papacy;  and  to  apply  it  to  Constantine,  would 
be  travelling  out  of  the  record.  That  "the 
little  book"  has  special  reference  to  the  1260 
years,  the  dominant  reign  of  "the  Man  of  sin," 
is  admitted;  but  that  it  has  an  occasional  or 
incidental  reference  to  the  rescue  of  the  church 
from  Pagan  persecution  in  the  days  of  Con- 
stantine and  his  christian  successors,  there  is 
intrinsic  evidence  to  ourselves  in  the  passage 
to  which  we  have  alluded.  The  monster, 
which  is  said  to  wait  to  devour  the  Man-child, 
as  soon  as  he  would  be  born,  is  called  "a  great 
red  dragon."  If  the  dragon  symbolized  the 
devil  only,  according  to  Mr.  Faber,  why  is  he 
said  to  be  red?  Dr.  Scott,  in  his  comment  on 
the  place,  has  observed,  that  purple  or  scarlet 
were  the  distinguishing  colors  of  the  garments 
of  the  Roman  Emperors,  Consuls  and  Gen- 
erals; and  this,  we  think,  is  the  reason  why  the 
dragon  is  depicted  as  ret?,  rather  than  that  of 
any  other  color.     Besides,  as  observed  in  the 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  107 

beginning  of  the  third  chapter,  the  dragon  is 
described  as  having  7  heads  and  10  horns,  and 
crowns  upon  those  heads,  but  not  upon  his 
horns,  and  is  a  proof  that  the  empire  was  not 
divided  into  ten  kingdoms,  at  the  time  alluded 
to  by  the  prophet.  These  circumstances,  with 
others  mentioned  in  the  chapter  alluded  to, 
constrain  us  to  interpret  the  dragon,  as  not  only 
a  symbol  of  the  devil,  but  analogically  of  the 
Roman  empire  in  its  Pagan  state,  instigated  by 
the  devil  to  destroy  the  Man-child;  and  that 
Mr.  Faber's  objections  to  Constantine's  being 
that  Man-child,  are  not  valid. 

But  it  has  been  objected  by  others,  that  Con- 
stantino can  hardly  be  accounted  a  christian5 
inasmuch  as  he  was  not  baptized  until  a  short 
time  before  his  death.  This,  probably,  arose 
from  his  being  influenced  by  the  opinion  of 
Tertullian,  a  popular  father  and  writer  of  the 
preceding  century,  and  which  pervaded  the 
church  for  some  time — "that  sins  committed 
after  baptism,  if  not  altogether,  were  next  to 
unpardonable."  But  that  he  not  only  res- 
cued the  church  from  a  persecution  that  threat- 
ened her  existence,  but  aided  her  in  every  exi- 
gency, is  well  known  to  all  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  that  day. 

It  has  been  further  objected,  that  the  words, 
"who  will  rule  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron," 
are  predicated  of  Christ  in  the  2d  Psalm,  and 
are  not  to  be  predicated  of  any  man,  however 
great  or  good.  But  these  very  words,  with  an 
addition  in  that  Psalm,  are  applied  to  a  stead- 
10* 


108  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIOXS. 

fast  believer  in  chap.  2,  v.  26,  27; — "He  that 
overcometh,  and  keepeth  my  words  unto  the 
end,  to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the  nations, 
and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron;  as 
the  vessels  of  a  potter,  shall  they  he  dashed  in 
shivers."  But  it  may  be  said,  this  victory  is  to 
be  achieved  under  Christ,  and  by  his  strength. 
True, — hut  it  is  nevertheless  ascribed  to  the 
overcoming  believer,  and,  though  acted  upon 
by  the  spirit  of  Christ,  those  acts  are  properly 
his  acts;  and  why  may  not  such  acts  be  pre- 
dicated of  Constantino,  who,  it  is  confessed, 
used  the  power  providentially  committed  to 
him,  by  the  Head  of  the  church,  in  subverting 
Pagan  idolatry,  and  in  building  up  Christianity 
upon  its  ruins. 

But,  as  remarked  more  than  once,  the  fore- 
going and  other  passages  of  a  similar  character 
are  subordinate  points,  and  to  be  ignorant  of, 
or  mistaken  respecting  their  true  meaning,  will 
not  stand  in  the  way  of  attaining  a  satisfactory 
knowledge  of  the  principal  prophecies  of  the 
Revelation,  if  the  key  which  we  have  pre- 
sented to  the  reader,  and  presented  to  our- 
selves, by  Mr.  Croly,  is  properly  applied. — 
Every  pei^on  who  is  in  the  habit  of  reading 
the  books  which  have  been  published  on  the 
Revelation  of  John,  from  time  to  time,  will, 
we  think,  see  that  the  errors  and  failures  of 
different  authors,  as  to  the  main  points,  arose 
from  their  not  being  in  possession  of  this  mas- 
ter-key, or  the  knowledge  of  the  precise  year 
in  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  became  ''Hhe 


MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS.  109 

Man  of  sin  ;^^  or,  if  he  knew  of  it,  of  not  using 
it  ariglit.  And  we  think  that  every  person 
of  good  common  sense,  who  understands  the 
meaning  of  the  symbols,  and  has  a  general 
knowledge  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history, 
with  this  key  in  his  hand,  can  unlock  every 
material  passage  that  is  mysterious  in  this  last 
revelation  of  a  gracious  God,  to  undeserving 
man. 

We  will  close  our  observations  on  the  vials 
by  remarking,  that  since  we  published  our  in- 
terpretations, eight  years  ago,  Algiers,  the 
strong  hold  of  Maiiometanism  in  Africa,  has 
been  wrested  from  the  Ottoman  Porte  bv 
France;  that  Egypt,  its  great  granary,  is  lost, 
and  Syria  in  all  probability; — that  insurrec- 
tions are  starting  up,  from  time  to  time,  in  that 
wom-out  and  tottering  empire,  so  long  the  ene- 
my of  the  church  of  Christ  in  the  East;  and 
the  day  is  not  far  distant,  when,  as  Daniel  ex- 
presses it,  '*it  will  be  broken  without  hand,"  or 
fall  by  its  own  intrinsic  feebleness  and  decrep- 
itude. This  strengthens,  if  not  confirms,  our 
exposition  of  the  seventh  vial. 

But,  after  all,  it  may  be  objected,  that  the 
prophecies  of  John  and  Daniel  are  parallels,  as 
they  respect  the  church  of  God,  and  that  what- 
ever interpretation  is  given  to  the  one,  that  is 
not  accordant  with  the  other,  is  not  to  be  relied 
on;  but  we  have  not  done  this,  and  until  this  is 
done,  our  interpretations,  however  plausible, 
and  our  dates,  however  coincident  with  re- 
markable events  that  have  a  striking  aspect  to 


110  MISCELLANEOUS    OBSERVATIONS. 

those  prophecies  and  dates,  are  not  to  be  ad- 
mitted. We  confess  that  we  had  not  particu- 
larly examined  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  when 
we  wrote  our  expositions  of  some  parts  of  the 
Revelation  ;  for  to  explain  the  prophecies  was 
not  the  principal  object  which  we  had  in  view 
at  the  time, — it  was  what  the  reader  will  find 
in  the  three  last  chapters.  We  have,  however, 
more  particularly  examined  the  prophecies  of 
Daniel  since  that  time,  and  the  reader  will  ^nd 
the  results  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PROPHECIES    OF    DANIEL. 

We  have  remarked  in  the  last  chapter,  that 
the  prophecies  of  John  and  Daniel  are  paral- 
lels; or  that  in  some  instances  they  prophesy 
concerning  the  same  persons,  or  powers,  and 
events;  and  consequently,  that  whatever  inter- 
pretation is  given  to  the  prophecies  of  the  one, 
that  is  not  accordant  with  the  prophecies  of  the 
other,  is  erroneous,  and  not  to  be  admitted. 
In  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  humbly 
submitted  to  the  public  an  interpretation  of  the 
principal  prophecies  of  John;  and  our  design 
in  this  is  to  show  how  far  that  interpretation  is 
accordant  with,  and  supported  by  the  prophe- 
cies of  Daniel. 

In  pursuance  of  this  we  would  observe,  that 
there  have  been  only  four  universal  monarch- 
ies or  empires,  with  all  of  which  the  church  of 
God  has  been  connected  or  concerned,  and 
affected  by  them  more  or  less:  The  Babylon- 
ian, the  Medo-Persian,  the  Macedonian,  and 
the  Roman; — nor  will  there  be  any  other. 
These  are  first  introduced  to  our  notice  in  the 
second  chapter  of  Daniel's  prophecies,  under 
the  symbol  of  an  image  which  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, king  of  Babylon,  saw  in  a  dream,  "the 
head  of  which  was  composed  of  fine  gold,  the 


112  DANIEL^S   PROPHECIES. 

breast  and  arms  of  silver,  the  belly  and  thighs 
of  brass,  the  legs  of  iron,  the  feet  partly  of  iron 
and  clay."  The  golden  head,  as  interpreted 
by  Daniel,  symbohzed  the  Babylonian  empire; 
the  silver  breast  and  arms,  the*  Medo-Persian, 
w^hich  succeeded  it;  the  brazen  belly  and 
thighs,  the  Macedonian,  or  as  some  call  it,  the 
Grecian;  and  the  iron  and  clay  legs  and  feet, 
the  Roman,  which  destroyed  all  the  others. 
To  these  'Hhe  kingdom  of  the  mountain,"  as  it  is 
called  by  some,  was  to  succeed,  or  the  spiritual 
kingdom  of  3IessiaJi,  which  was  to  overturn 
all  the  others,  and  itself  to  continue  until  time 
shall  be  no  more.  "Thou  sawest,"  said  the 
prophet  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  "till  a  stone  cut 
out  without  hands  smote  the  image  on  his  feet^ 
became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled  the  earth." 
There  is  nothing  intimated  in  this  vision 
when  this  would  be  accomplished.  But  Dan- 
iel tells  us  in  the  7th  chapter,  that  he  had  a 
vision  of  the  same  empires  under  the  symbols 
of  a  lion,  of  a  bear,  of  a  leopard,  and  of  a  fourth 
beast  to  which  he  gives  no  name,  because  it 
was  "diverse"  from  all  the  others,  "was  dread- 
ful, and  terrible,  and  exceedingly  strong,  hav- 
ing great  iron  teeth  with  which  it  devoured, 
and  brake  in  pieces,  and  stamped  the  residue 
under  its  feet."  The  lion  was  a  fit  symbol  of 
the  Babylonian  empire,  on  account  of  its  great 
strength ;  the  bear,  of  the  Medo-Persian,  be- 
cause its  founders  were  fierce  and  rapacious; 
tlie  leopard,  of  the  Macedonian,  because,  as  a 
leopard  seizes  his  prey  by  a  sudden  spring  or 


Daniel's  prophecies.  113 

bound;  so,  Alexander  the  Great,  who  over- 
turned the  Medo-Persian  empire,  overturned 
it,  colossal  as  it  was,  in  two  or  three  years. 
But  there  is  a  circumstance  added  in  the  7th 
and  8th  verses  of  this  chapter,  respecting  the 
fourth  anomalous  beast,  that  demands  our  par- 
ticular attention.  He  had  ten  horns,  and  among 
them  came  up  another  httle  horn,  before  which 
lliree  of  the  first  horns  were  plucked  up  by  the 
roots;  and  behold  in  this  horn  were  eyes  like 
the  eyes  of  a  man,  the  symbol  of  intelligence, 
and  a  mouth  speaking  great  things."  It  is  also 
said  in  the  21st  verse,  that  this  little  horn  would 
''make  war  with  the  saints,  or  the  church  of 
God,  and  prevail  against  them;"  and  in  the 
25th  verse,  that  he  would  speak  great  things 
against  the  most  high,  and  think  to  change 
laws  and  times.  Now,  as  we  have  already 
shown  in  chapter  3d,  the  description  given  of 
this  beast  by  Daniel,  perfectly  corresponds  with 
the  character  of  the  beast  described  by  John  in 
the  13lh  chapter  of  Revelation, — or  the  Ro- 
man empire,  when  divided  into  ten  kingdoms; 
and  the  little  horn  described  by  Daniel  corres- 
ponds also  with  the  Pope  of  Rome,  wiien  those 
kingdoms  "gave  him  their  strength  and  power:" 
Rev.  17:13.  Then,  as  John  expresses  it,  "a 
mouth  was  given  him  speaking  great  things 
and  blasphemies;  and  that  he  would  open  his 
mouth  in  blasphemy  against  God  to  blaspheme 
his  name,  and  them  that  dwell  in  heaven;  and 
to  whom  also  it  was  given  to  make  war  with 
the  saints,  and  to  overcome  them." — Rev.  13: 
5—7.     All  who  reflect  upon  the  blasphemous 


114  daisiel's  prophecies. 

titles  given  to  and  assumed  by  the  Pope  of 
Rome,  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter;  and  the 
many  cruel  persecutions  carried  on  against 
those  who  would  not  submit  to  his  spiritual 
tyranny,  cannot  but  see  that  the  above  charac- 
ter, drawn  by  both  Daniel  and  John,  suits  the 
Pope  of  Rom.e,  and  no  one  else.  And  to  this 
may  be  subjoined  what  is  said  of  this  little 
horn  in  the  8th  verse,  ^^that  before  him  three 
of  tlie  iirst  horns  or  kingdoms  were  plucked 
up  by  the  roots;"  and  in  the  24th  verse,  that 
he  would  '-subdiie  thre<3  kings."  Now  history, 
civil  and  ecclesiastic,  informs  us  that  three  of 
the  original  horns  or  kingdoms  came  in  pro- 
cess of  time  under  tlse  civil  jurisdiction  of  the 
Pope  of  Rome.  According  to  Dr.  Scott,  in  his 
comment  on  this  chapter,  these  w^ere,  "the  ex- 
archate of  Ravenna,  the  kingdom  of  the  Lom- 
bards, and  the  state  of  Rome,  and  denoted  by 
his  wearing  the  triple  crown." 

We  would  here  only  remark  on  this  point, 
that  although  neitlier  of  these  prophets  mention 
the  year  when  this  blasphemous  power  would 
arise,  they  yet  agree  as  to  the  length  of  his 
dominant  reign.  Daniel  says  in  chapter  7:25, 
"a  time,  times,  and  the  dividing  of  time;"  and 
in  chapter  12t7,  "a  time,  times,  and  a  half,"  or 
a  year,  two  years,  and  half  of  a  year;  and  John 
says  in  Rev.  13:5,  "forty  and  two  months.  Now 
as  the  Jewish  month  consisted  of  30  days,  the 
reader  will  see  that  the  days  in  three  years  and 
a  half,  and  in  forty-two  months,  amount  to  the 
same  length  of  time — 1260  days.  But  in  pro- 
phetic language,  a  day  denotes  a  year.     Thus, 


Daniel's  prophecies.  115 

in  Ezek.  4:4,  5,  God  said  to  the  prophet,  "Lie 
thou  on  thy  left  side,  and  lay  the  iniquity  of  the 
house  of  Israel  upon  it:  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  days  that  thou  shalt  He  upon  it,  thou 
shalt  bear  their  iniquity;  for  I  have  laid  upon 
thee  the  years  of  their  iniquity,  according  to 
the  number  of  the  daysy  Hence  then  it  ap- 
pears, that  the  dominant  reign  of  this  wicked 
power,  when  he  would  arise,  was  to  continue 
for  1260  years;  and  which  is  corroborated  by 
what  is  said  of  the  witnesses  which  were  to  ex- 
ist during  the  whole  of  his  reign — "that  they 
should  prophesy  a  thousand  two  hundred  and 
three-score  days  in  sackcloth."  These  pro- 
phetical days  or  years  are,  however,  to  be  con- 
sidered as  solar  or  natural  years.  And  wheth- 
er the  Jews  added  the  remaining  five  days  and 
odd  minutes  to  their  last  month,  to  complete 
the  solar  year,  or  had  a  thirteenth  month  ev- 
ery sixth  year,  is  a  point  not  agreed  upon  by 
the  learned.  But  they  must  have  had  recourse 
to  some  such  device,  to  prevent  that  error  and 
mistake  which  would  in  a  short  time  take  place 
in  their  computation  of  time,  and  the  regular 
observance  of  their  several  feasts. 

In  the  8th  chapter  of  his  prophecy,  Daniel 
^ells  us  farther,  that  he  had  a  vision  of  "a  ram 
with  horns  that  pushed  westward,  and  north- 
ward, and  southward,  so  that  no  beast  could 
stand  before  him;  that  he  saw  at  the  same  time 
a  he-goat  that  came  from  the  West,  and  touch- 
ed not  the  ground,  and  had  a  notable  horn  be- 
tween his  eyes;  that  he  ran  upon  the  ram  in 
11 


116  Daniel's  prophecies; 

the  fury  of  his  power,  smote  him,  and  cast  him 
down  to  the  ground,  and  trampled  upon  him; 
that  the  he-goat  waxed  very  great;  that  the 
great  horn  was  broken,  and  for  it  came  up  four 
notable  horns  toward  the  four  winds  of  heaven; 
that  out  of  one  of  them  came  a  httle  horn  which 
waxed  very  great,  toward  the  South,  toward 
the  East,  and  toward  the  pleasant  land ;  that  he 
magnified  himself  even  to  the  prince  of  the 
host;  and  that  by  him  the  daily  sacrifice  was 
taken  aw^ay,  and  the  place  of  the  sanctuary 
cast  down;  and  it  practised  and  prospered." 

This  vision  was  explained  to  Daniel  thus: 
The  ram  with  the  two  horns  symbolized  the 
kingdoms  of  Media  and  Persia,  or  the  Medo- 
Persian  empire.  The  he-goat,  the  Macedo- 
nian empire  erected  by  Alexander  the  Great, 
But  what  power  was  meant  by  "the  Httle  horn" 
that  came  up  out  of  one  of  the  horns  or  king- 
doms, into  whicji  that  empire  was  broken  after 
Alexander's  death,  is  a  matter  of  dispute  among 
interpreters  and  commentators.  Some  consider 
this  htde  horn  as  a  double  representation  of  the 
litde  horn  mentioned  in  the  seventh  chapter. 
But  besides  a  marked  difference  of  features  in 
some  parts  of  their  characters  as  drawn  by  the 
prophet,  the  little  horn  mentioned  in  the  7th 
chapter  sprung  up  acnong  the  ten  horns  into 
which  the  Western  Roman-empire  was  broken. 
But  this  little  horn  sprung  up  in  the  East,  and 
out  of  one  of  the  four  horns  into  which  the 
empire  of  Alexander  was  divided.  Hence 
then,  for  these  and  other  reasons  which  we 


Daniel's  prophecies.  117 

deem  unanswerable,  we  accord  with  Mr.  Faber, 
that  by  this  Htde  horn  we  are  to  understand 
the  Mahometan  empire  or  power,  the  wasting 
enemy  of  the  churcli  in  the  East,  as  Popery 
has  been  in  the  West,  and  which  was  introduc- 
ed by  John  in  the  Revelation  under  the  sym- 
bols of  the    Euphratean  horsemen,  and   the 

FALSE    PROPHET. 

The  reason  why  we  have  noticed  this  little 
horn  was,  not  only  to  show  the  perfect  corres- 
pondency between  the  prophecies  of  Daniel 
and  John,  in  regard  to  those  beasts  which  were 
to  waste  and  wear  out  the  saints,  but  that  there 
is  a  number  connected  with  it,  the  beginning 
of  which,  if  we  can  ascertain,  will  go  far  in  de- 
termining the  rise  and  final  destruction  of  those 
enemies  of  the  church  of  Christ.  In  the  13th 
verse  of  this  8th  chapter,  Daniel  tells  us  that  he 
heard  one  saint  say  to  another, — "How  long 
shall  this  vision  be;"  and  the  answer,  as  it  is 
in  our  Bibles,  was,  "until  2300  days,"  or  years. 
In  the  Septuagint  translation,  it  is  2100  days; 
and  Mr.  Faber  tells  us  from  Jerome,  that  some 
very  ancient  copies  read  2200.  That  is,  the 
events  of  the  vision  were  to  commence  when 
the  Macedonian  he-goat  should  attack  and 
overcome  the  Medo-Persian  ram;  and  end, 
"or  the  sanctuary,"  or  church  of  Christ,  "be 
cleansed,"  at  the  end  of  these  numbers,  which- 
ever of  them  is  the  true  reading,  or  original 
text.  This  attack,  says  Mr.  Faber,  happened 
in  the  year  334  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  when 
Alexander  the  Great  attacked   and  overcame 


118  Daniel's  prophecies. 

Darius,  the  emperor  of  Medo-Persia,  in  the 
battle  of  the  Granicus.  He  has  apphed  the 
numbers  2300,  and  2400,  to  that  year,  and 
shown  that  neither  of  them  will  at  all  agree 
with  what  history  informs  us  respecting  the 
rise  of  Mahomet,  the  one  by  100,  and  the  otjier 
by  200  years;  nor  , yet  with  what  the  inspired 
prophets  tell  us  in  regard  to  the  duration  of  the 
dominant  reign  of  his  cotemporary,  "the  Ma^ 
OF  SIN.''  For  at  whatever  time  Popery  and 
Mahometanism  may  have  arisen,  Jolm  tells  us 
that  they  shall  perish  together.  Hut,  as 
Mr.  Faber  has  shown,  if  we  will  add  334 
606  years  since  the  birth  of  Christ,  606 
when,  as  he  supposes,  Popery  and  Ma-     1260 

hometanism  arose  together,  to  334  yrs.     

before  his  birth;  and  to  these  add  1260  2200 
years,  the  duration  of  the  dominant 
reign  of  the  "Man  of  sin,"  they  will  exactly 
amount  to  2200  years,  which  would  seem  to 
be  the  true  reading,  and  will  bring  us  down  to 
the  year  1866,  when,  as  he  thinks,  both  Popery 
and  Mahometanism  will  be  destroyed,— Rev. 
16:21. 

We  think  that  he  is  not  far  wrong  in  regard 
to  the  final  destruction  of  Popery  and  Mahom- 
etanism; although  we  must  object  to  one  of  his 
dates,  and  yet  it  is  not  very  material.  Instead 
of  dating  the  commencement  of  the  vision  of 
the  Mahometan  "little  horn,"  in  the  year  334 
B.  C.  he  ought,  we  think,  to  have  dated  it  in 
the  year  332,  when  Alexander  finally  over- 
threw Darius,  the  Medo-Persian  king,  in  the 


Daniel's  prophecies.  119 

battle  of  Arbela,  and  put  an  end  to  the  Persian 
empire.  The  dates  of  events,  so  long  ago,  are 
indeed  somewhat  uncertain.  We  accordinglv 
find  some  chronologists  placing  that  battle  in 

331  B.  C.  but  the  current  language  of  histori- 
ans, that  Alexander  conquered  the  Persian 
empire  in  less  than  three  years,  would  seem  to 
place  it  in  332.  The  battle  of  Issus,  the  sec- 
ond battle  between  Alexander  and  Darius,  is 
said  to  have  been  fought  in  333  B.  C.  and  from 
the  fiery  temper  and  general  character  of  Alex- 
ander, it  is  not  probable  that  he  would  allow 
Darius  two  years  at  least  to  recruit  his  forces. 
From  these  considerations,  it  appears  more  pro- 
bable, that  the  battle  of  Arbela  was  fought  in 

332  than  in  331  B,  C.  The  difference  betw^een 
some  chronologists  and  ourselves  is  only  a  year. 
Then  assuming  that  the  year  332  B.  C.  was  the 
year  in  which  the  battle  of  Arbela  was  fought, 
and  the  Macedonian  he-goat  ''trampled  the 
Medo-Persian  ram  under  his  feet,"  our  own 
numbers  and  dates  will  stand  thus:  If  to  332 
B.  C.  we  add  533  years,  A.  D.  when 

the  Emperor  Justinian  made  the  Bishop  332 
of  Rome  "head  over  all  the  holy  church-  533 
es;"  and  to  these  add  1260,  the  dom-  1260 
inant  reign  of  "the  Man  of  sin;"  and  tg         75 

these  the  75  years  which  Daniel  men-     

tions  in  the  12th  chapter,  as  the  period  2200 
between  the  ceasing  of  the  persecuting 
reign  of  "the  Man  of  sin,"  and  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Millennium — these  numbers,  when 
put  together,  will  also  exactly  amount  to  2200 
11* 


120  Daniel's  prophecies. 

years;  but  they  bring  us  down  to  the  year  1868\ 
as  the  commencement  of  tlie  Millennial  state  of 
the  church. 

We  have  said,  in  the  close  of  the  last  chap- 
ter, that  we  had  not  particularly  examined  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel,  nor  the  very  material 
number  2200,  when  we  wrote  our  remarks  on 
"the  Revelation  of  John;"  and  were  agreeably 
surprised  to  find  how  very  nearly,  if  not  ex- 
actly, that  number  coincides  with  the  other 
numbers  and  dates  which  we  submitted  in  re- 
gard to  the  rise,  dominancy,  and  final  fail  af 
'^the  Man  of  sin."  The  reader  will  have  ob- 
served, that  the  difference  between  Mr.  Faber 
and  ourselves,  in  regard  to  the  above  numbers 
and  dates,  is  this: — That  excellent  writer,  who 
has  shed  light  on  the  prophecies,  and  to  whom 
we  are  much  indebted  for  whatever  knowledge 
we  possess  on  the  subject,  places  the  75  years, 
mentioned  in  the  last  chapter  of  Daniel,  be- 
yond, or  after  the  destruction  of  the  combined 
powers  of  the  dragon,  of  the  beast,  and  of  the 
false  prophet,  in  the  batde  of  Armageddon,  and 
consequently  the  Millennium  cannot  commence 
until  the  year  1941,  according  to  his  scheme: 
but  we  place  them  between  the  years  1793  and 
1868,  when,  according  to  our  views  and  scheme, 
the  Millennium  will  commence.  The  reason 
why  75  years  were  added  to  the  life  of  the  Pa- 
pal beast,  after  his  power  to  persecute  should 
be  taken  away,  was,  to  allow  sufficient  time  for 
repentance  to  his  adherents,  and  an  opportu- 
nity to  the  thoughtful  among  them  to  come  out 


Daniel's  PRorHECiEs.  121 

of  the  mystical  Babylon,  and  flee  from  the 
coming  wrath.  Hence  the  gracious  command, 
or  warning,  in  Rev.  18:4:  "Come  out  of  her, 
my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  in  her  sins, 
and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues."  But 
this  cannot  be  said  after  the  battle  of  Arma- 
geddon; for  the  Papal  beast  will  be  destroyed 
at  that  time.  This  was  also  the  divine  pro- 
cedure to  the  Babylonian,  Persian,  and  Mace- 
donian beasts,  after  their  power  to  persecute 
the  church  of  God  was  taken  away.  Dan. 
7:12 — "As  for  die  rest  of  the  beasts,  they  had 
their  dominion  taken  away:  yet  their  lives  were 
prolonged  for  a  season  and  a  time." 

A  remark  here,  in  regard  to  the  actual  rise 
of  the  Mahometan  "little  horn,"  may  be  neces- 
sary to  a  full  view  of  our  scheme  of  interpreta- 
tion, and  also  that  the  reader  may  precisely  see 
wherein  we  differ  from  Mr.  Faber's  scheme  on 
that  point,  and  why.  Mr.  Faber  and  others 
date  the  rise  of  Mahometanism  in  606,  be- 
cause, in  that  year,  Mahomet  retired  into  the 
cave  of  Hera,  for  the  purpose,  it  is  supposed, 
of  framing  his  imposture;  and  because  in  that 
year  the  Emperor  Phocas  appointed  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  "universal  Bishop."  Hence,  then, 
as  a  part  of  their  scheme  of  interpretation, 
Mahometanism  and  the  Papacy  were  to  rise 
together,  to  continue  the  same  precise  length 
of  time,  and  to  perish  together.  They  were 
boxh  to  persecute  the  church  of  God  for  1260 
years ;  and  that  they  are  to  perish  together,  we 
are  expressly  told  in  the  16th  chapter  of  the 


122  DANIEL'S    PROPHECIES. 

Revelation.  But  it  does  not  follow  from  that 
circumstance  that  they  were  to  continue  in  their 
dominant  state  as  persecutors,  the  same  pre- 
cise length  of  time;  nor  is  there,  we  believe, 
any  data  in  either  Daniel  or  John,  whence 
such  an  inference  can  be  legitimately  drawn — 
at  least  we  have  not  seen  any  such  data  ad- 
vanced by  those  who  advocate  this  scheme  of 
interpretation. 

With  respect  to  Mahomet's  retiring  into  the 
cave  of  Hera,  it  was  a  private  and  not  a  pubhc 
act.  His  first  public  or  overt  act,  as  an  im- 
postor, or  enemy  to  the  church  of  Christ,  was 
in  the  year  608,  when  he  began  to  preach  or 
publish  his  imposture,  as  is  acknowledged  by 
Mr.  Faber  himself.  Now  if  w^e  will  date  Dan- 
iel's vision  of  the  Mahometan  'little  horn,' 
as  commencing  in  332  B.  C.  as  we  332 
think  we  ought,  and  add  its  actual  rise  608 
in  608,  and  to  these  add  the  1260  years,     1260 

during  the  greatest  part  of  which  he     

was  to  persecute  the  church,  with  "the     2200 

Man  of  sin,"  and  perish   with  him, — 

these   numbers  when   put  together  will   also 

amount   to    Daniel's   2200.     And  not 

only  so,  but  the  year  608  added  to  the       608 

year  1260,  will  bring  us  down  to  the     1260 

year  1868,  the  year  in  which,  according     

to  our  dates  and  calculations,  Mahom-     1868 
etanism  and  Popery  will  perish  together, 
and   the  Millennium  commence.      And  it  is 
w-orthy  of  furdier  remark,  that  from  the  rise  of 
the  Papal  beast  in  533,  to  the  rise  of  Mahom- 


Daniel's  prophecies.  123 

etanism  in  608,  was  exactly  75  years,  during 
which  time,  as  ecclesiastical  historians  tell  us, 
the  church  became  much  corrupted  by  the  in- 
troduction of  images,  and  by  a  number  of  su- 
perstitious ceremonies  introduced  by  the  reign- 
ing Popes.  As  observed  in  a  former  chapter, 
these  things  darkened  and  debased  the  public 
mind,  and  prepared  it  for  the  reception  of  Ma- 
hometanism,  and  Mahomet  availed  himself  of 
the  general  superstition  and  corruption,  by  pub- 
lishing that  his  pretended  commission  from 
heaven,  was  to  bring  men  from  the  worship  of 
images  and  daemons,  or  dead  me/n,  to  the  wor- 
ship of  one  God.  These  years,  however,  were 
doubtless  designed  by  a  long-suffering  God,  as 
a  space  for  repentance  and  reformation  to  the 
Eastern  churches,  and  that  by  returning  to  pure 
Christianity,  as  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  they 
might  be  armed  against  the  approaching  im- 
posture of  Mahomet.  But,  as  we  are  told  in 
Rev.  9:20,  which  describes  the  ravages  of  that 
imposture,  *Hhcy  repented  not  of  the  works  of 
their  hands,  that  they  should  not  worship  dse- 
mons,  and  idols  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass, 
and  stone,  and  of  wood ;"  and  thus  they  pre- 
pared themselves  for  being  led  captive  by  that 
soul-ruining  delusion  and  desolating  scourge. 

The  preceding  observations  prepare  the  way 
for  a  more  particular  consideration  of  the  75 
years  mentioned  by  Daniel  in  chap.  12:12,  and 
to  which  we  have  already  alluded.  The  verse 
r^ads  thus:  "Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth,  and 
Cometh  to  the  thousand    three  hundred    and 


124  Daniel's  prophecies. 

five  and  thirty  days,"  or  years.  In  the  7th 
verse,  the  dominant  reign  of  the  Papacy  is  de- 
declared  by  a  heavenly  interpreter,  to  be  "a 
time,  times,  and  a  half;"  and  which  we  have 
shown,  more  than  once,  denote  1260  years. 
The  reader  will  here  observe,  that  the  number 
1335  contains  75  years  more  than  the  above 
number  1260.  In  the  8th  verse,  Daniel  is  re- 
presented as  saying  to  the  heavenly  interpreter, 
"O  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  end  of  these 
things?"  From  the  answer  given,  and  from 
the  circumstance  that  he  had  seen  in  vision, 
that  a  "little  horn"  in  the  East  would  persecute 
the  church  of  God,  as  well  as  a  ''little  horn" 
in  the  West,  it  is  plain  that  he  wished  to  know 
when  the  persecution  in  the  East  would  come 
to  an  end,  as  well  as  the  persecution  in  the 
West.  The  answer  is  in  the  11th  verse: — 
"And  from  the  time  that  the  daily  sacrifice 
shall  he  taken  away,  and  the  abomination  that 
maketh  desolate  is  set  up,  there  shall  be  a 
thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety  days."  By 
recurring  to  chapter  8:13,  the  reader  will  see 
from  the  pliraseology — ''the  daily  sacrifice 
being  taken  aivay''^ — that  the  reference  in  this 
verse  is  to  Mahometanism,  and  not  to  Popery. 
He  will  also  see  that  in  this  number,  1290, 
there  are  30  years  more  than  in  the  number 
1260;  or  that  in  30  years  after  the  persecuting 
power  of  Popery  is  taken  away,  the  persecu- 
ting power  of  ]\Iahometanism  will  be  taken 
away  also.  And  let  it  be  observed,  that  this 
divides^^  the  75  years  in  the  number  1335,  into 


Daniel's  prophecies.  125 

two  epochs  of  30  and  45  years — the  30,  when 
the  persecuting  power  of  Mahometanism  will 
end,  and  the  45,  when  the  blessedness  of  the 
Millennium  will  commence.  And  now,  has 
any  event  taken  place  in  the  bounds  of  the  an- 
cient Roman  empire,  that  would  justify  us  in 
saying  that  the  persecuting  power  of  Mahom- 
etanism is  at  an  end,  and  which  must  have 
taken  place  in  1823,  or  30  years  after  the  ceas- 
ing of  the  persecuting  power  of  ''the  Man  of 
sin,"  in  1793?  In  that  year,  says  a  history  of 
the  Greek  Revolution  which  we  have  read — 
the  author,  we  think,  did  not  give  his  name — 
"the  states  of  Greece,  in  general  congress  at 
Astross,  declared  themselves  independent  of 
the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  in  their  Constitution 
proclaimed  the  free  exercise  of  religion  to  all 
men."  Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  that  that  Con- 
stitution was  drawn  up  and  published  by  the 
congress  that  met  at  Epidaurus  in  1822:  but 
that  was  not  a  full  congress  of  all  the  states 
of  Greece:  and  according  to  the  history  re- 
ferred to,  p.  211,  the  Constitution  of  Epidau- 
rus was  only  "provisional,"  and  not  binding, 
until  it  received  the  amendments  and  ratifica- 
tion of  the  congress  at  Astross.  One  of  the 
acts  of  this  congress  accordingly  runs  thus: 
"The  Constitution  thus  revised  and  ratified^ 
by  the  universal  consent,  shall  be  immediately 
promulgated  throughout  the  Confederation." 
And  here  it  may  be  necessary  to  observe,  that 
the  Greek  revolution,  and  their  declaring  them- 
selves   independent   of  the    Ottoman    Porte, 


126  Daniel's  prophecies. 

viewed  merely  as  the  effort  of  a  long  oppressed 
nation,  to  burst  the  chains  of  their  oppressors, 
is,  of  itself,  not  to  be  considered  of  such  im- 
portance, as  to  occupy  a  place  in  the  prophe- 
cies of  either  Daniel  or  John.  In  this  respect, 
it  is  of  no  more  importance  than  the  many 
political  revolutions  that  have  taken  place  from 
time  to  time,  in  the  bounds  of  the  ancient 
Roman  empire.  But  it  assumes  a  vastly  high 
importance  when  viewed  as  the  ordamed  mean 
for  rescuing  the  church  of  God,  in  the  Greek 
nation,  from  the  power  and  persecutions  of  the 
Mahometan  ''little  horn.^'  The  other  great 
portion  of  the  Greek  church,  in  the  Russian 
dominions,  has  not  been  persecuted;  nor  is  it 
probable  that  it  will,  as  it  is  the  established  re- 
ligion of  the  empire.  These  views  and  inter- 
pretations may  be  deemed  fanciful  by  some, 
because  new,  or  not  adduced  heretofore;  but 
they  may  not  be  unworthy  of  serious  consid- 
eration. Indeed,  had  not  the  Greek  revolution 
taken  place,  or  if  taking  place,  not  taken  place 
the  very  year  it  did,  we  would  have  consid- 
ered our  scheme  of  interpretation,  however 
right  in  some  things,  defective  and  wrong; 
inasmuch  as  it  did  not  show,  nor  prove  by 
undisputed  historical  facts,  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prediction  respecting  the  deliverance  of  the 
Greek  church  from  Mahometan  persecution^ 
as  recorded  in  Dan.  12:11. 

True,  that  church  has  fallen  into  much  error 
and  superstition;  but  still  she  is  far  from  being 
as  corrupt  and  degenerated  as  the  church  of 


Daniel's  prophecies.  127 

Rome;  nor  is  she  like  Rome,  crimsoned  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints ;  and  it  would  seem  from 
the  report  of  the  missionaries  sent  to  her,  that 
God  designs  to  regenerate  her  before  many 
years  are  past.  And  here  we  would  further 
observe,  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  many  learned 
men,  that  Mahometanism  is  not  a  religious  sys- 
tem radically  distinct  from  Christianity,  like  the 
religious  systems  of  Hindostan,  China  and 
Japan,  but  a  degenerated  Christianity,  and  not 
worse,  if  so  bad  as  Popery.^  If  so,  may  not  the 
-Greek  revolution,  in  1823,  be  also  the  appointed 
mean,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Protestant 
missions,  the  way  being  now  open,  for  bring- 
ing the  IMahometans  to  renounce  "the  false 
prophet,"  and  accept  of  Christ  as  their  prophet, 
priest,  and  king.  It  is  not  improbable,  that 
some  of  our  readers  may  not  feel  prepared  to 
admit  the  foregoing  views  and  interpretations, 
because  of  their  novelty;  but  this,  we  think, 
will  be  admitted — that  the  coincidence  of  pro- 
phetic numbers  and  dates,  with  the  extraordi- 
nary events  adduced,  which  have  much  af- 
fected the  church  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 
parts  of  the  ancient  empire  of  Rome,  and 
which  have  a  strong  retrospect  to  those  num- 
bers and  dates,  is  more  than  usually  remarkable. 
From  the  whole,  this,  in  brief,  is  our  view  of 
those  interesting  subjects:  The  "Man  of  sin," 
or  Popery,  was,  by  divine  permission,  to  perse- 
cute the  church  in  the  Western  part  of  the 

*  The  reader  will  find  this  subject  well  discussed  in  a  note  of 
Faber's  book,  vol.  2,  p.  269. 

12 


128  Daniel's  prophecies. 

Roman  empire  for  1260  years,  when  liis  per- 
secuting power  should  be  taken  away,  but 
his  hfe  spared  for  75  years  longer,  for  the  pur- 
poses already  mentioned;  and  that  the  Gospel 
might  be  preached  to  the  Gentile  nations,  as 
a  preparative  for  the  Millennium.  The  Ma- 
hometan "little  horn"  was  also,  by  divine  per- 
mission, to  persecute  the  church  in  the  Eastern 
part  of  that  empire,  for  the  greatest  portion  of 
that  period,  when  his  power  to  persecute  would 
be  likewise  taken  away,  but  his  life  prolonged 
for  some  final  good,  for  45  years  further,  when 
both  shall  be  finally  destroyed  in  the  battle 
of  Armageddon.  Whether  the  interpretation 
which  we  have  given  to  the  passages  in  Dan- 
iel and  John,  that  mention  those  interesting 
events,  be  cor  reel ;  and  whether  our  applica- 
tion of  past  events,  to  the  several  predictions, 
be  correct  also,  is  not  for  us,  but  for  the  reader 
to  say. 

But,  as  45  of  the  75  years  alluded  to,  have 
expired,  it  may  be  asked — what  events  have 
taken  place  during  those  years,  that  justify  the 
belief  that  we  are  living  under  their  influence, 
and  which  are  calculated  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  Millennial  state  of  the  church?  We 
answer — the  righteous  wrath  of  God  has  been 
poured  out  on  the  unrelenting  enemies  of  his 
church,  in  the  East,  and  in  the  West;  so  as  to 
incapacitate  them  for  persecuting  his  people  for 
the  time  to  come.  The  Bible  has  been  sent, 
and  the  Gospel  preached  lo  almost  every  Gen- 
tile nation  under  heaven,  even  to  those  whom 


Daniel's  prophecies.  J  29 

the  prophets  call  "the  Isles  of  the  sea."  And 
with  the  increasing  spirit  and  efforts  of  the 
church,  and  the  blessing  of  God  on  those 
efforts,  there  is  time  enough  in  the  next  30 
years  to  send  the  word  of  truth  and  of  life  to 
the  remainder,  and  to  remove  every  obstacle 
out  of  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  the  Mil- 
lenniumc 

As  ah'eady  observed  in  the  fourth  chapter,  we 
have  met  with  some  who  suppose  that  the 
world  must  be  really  converted  to  the  christian 
faith,  before  the  Millennium  can  commence. 
This,  we  think,  is  a  mistake,  and  leads  to  wrong 
views  and  interpretations  of  the  prophecies  re- 
specting it.  As  "the  Man  of  sin"  had  his 
birth,  youth,  manhood,  old  age,  and  decline, 
and  then  death;  so,  we  think,  will  it  be  with 
the  Millennium.  It  will  have  its  birth,  youth, 
manhood,  old  age,  and,  we  are  told  in  Rev. 
chap.  20,  V.  7 — 9,  its  decline  and  end.  The 
Gospel  is  indeed  to  be  "preached  to  every 
creature,"  or  every  nation,  previous  to  its  com- 
mencement; but  we  apprehend  that  its  com- 
mencement consists  in  the  removal  of  every 
earthly  power,  and  of  every  erroneous  religious 
system,  that  stands  in  the  way  of  the  reception 
of  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it;  and  this,  we 
think,  will  be  done  by  the  battle  of  Armaged- 
don, mentioned  and  described  in  Rev.  16th  ch. 
v.  16 — 21.  And  when  this  is  done,  then,  ac- 
cording to  the  prophecies,  the  Spirit's  influ- 
ences will  accompany  the  preached  word  so 
powerfully  and  effectually,  that,  according  to  a 


130  Daniel's  prophecies. 

prophet,  "a  nation  may  be  said  to  be  born  in  a 
day:" — Isa.  66:8.  As  for  Jehovah's  ancient 
people,  the  Jews,  it  would  seem  from  the  first 
verse  of  the  last  chapter  of  Daniel,  and  from 
other  prophecies,  that  they  will  not  be  con- 
verted "to  the  faith  in  Christ,"  in  a  body,  until 
about,  or  after  the  battle  of  Armageddon;  and 
that  their  unparalleled  distress  at  the  time,  and 
the  divine  interposition  in  their  favor,  will  be 
one  special  m^an  of  their  conversion.  For  it 
would  also  seem,  that  it  will  be  against  them^ 
and  probably  an  army  from  the  Protestant  na- 
tions, that  that  battle  will  be  fought  by  the  com- 
bined powers  of  the  dragon,  "the  Man  of  sin," 
and  false  prophet,  and  fought  in  Judea;  for 
Megiddo  is  a  district  in  Judea,  and  Armaged- 
don signifies  "the  destruction  of  Megiddo." 

John  tells  us,  in  the  16th  chapter  of  the 
Revelation,  that,  previous  to  that  battle,  "three 
unclean  spirits,  like  frogs,  will  come  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of 
the  beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false 
prophet,  to  gather  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth" 
to  that  tremenduous  conflict;  and  it  may  be 
asked,  who  those  unclean  spirits  are,  and  have 
they  gone  forth?  To  say  positively  who  those 
unclean  spirits  are,  would  be  inexcusable  rash- 
ness, as  those  kings  have  not  been  gathered  to- 
gether as  yet.  But  might  not  those  public  lec- 
turers; such  as  Robert  Owen,  and  Frances 
Wright,  be  a  part  of  those  filthy,  noisy,  and 
loathsome  animals,  who  were  to  issue  from  the 
mouth  of  the  dragon, — the  symbol  of  atheism 


Daniel's  prophecies.  131 

and  infidelity,  or  deism,  as  it  is  politely  called 
by  some.  Bad  as  the  world  has  hitherto  been, 
we  have  not  heard  nor  read  of  any  going  fi*om 
place  to  place  preaching  up  blank  atheism,  and 
the  dissolution  of  highly  important  moral  obli- 
gations, until  within  these  few  years  past. — 
Atheists  and  deists  there  were  heretofore,  but 
they  were  restrained,  either  by  a  sense  of  pro- 
priety, or  public  opinion,  from  proclaiming  and 
recommending  their  monstrously  wicked  prin- 
ciples: but  as  those  wholesome  restraints  are 
now  burst  asunder,  it  would  seem  that  the  pro- 
phecy, of  which  we  are  speaking,  was  now  ful- 
filling. The  nefarious  order  of  the  Jesuits  had 
been  abolished  in  most  of  the  Catholic  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  on  account  of  their  impious 
principles  and  practices;  but  they  have  been 
re-established  by  Pope  Pius  VII.  and  are  now- 
spreading  themselves  over  Europe,  and  our 
own  country,  teaching  and  inculcating  their 
demoralizing  tenets.  Mit>ht  not  these  be  the 
frogs  that  were  to  issue  from  the  mouth  of  the 
beast?  What  the  fanatical  followers  of  the 
false  prophet,  Mahomet,  are  doing,  we  do  not 
know;  but  the  decrees  of  the  late  vSultan  to 
his  subjects,  not  to  treat  the  christians,  in  his 
empire,  so  contemptuously  as  they  have  for- 
merly done,  by  calling  them  "Christian  dogs," 
&.C.  and  his  granting  to  the  christians  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion,  indicate  not  only  that 
his  power,  as  a  persecutor,  was  taken  away, 
b«t  that  a  coalition  between  the  false  prophet 
and  the  beast,  is  preparing,  if  not  begun. 
12* 


132  Daniel's  prophecies. 

Bbt  it  may  be  asked,  if  it  is  possible  for 
Popery,  bad  as  it  is,  to  form  a  coalition  with 
atheism,  infidelity  and  Mahometanism  ?  It  has 
been  called  "a/z  incurable  evll,'^  which  God 
purposes  to  destroy,  and  not  to  amend,  on  ac- 
count of  its  idolatry,  and  the  torrents  of  right- 
eous blood  which  it  has  shed ;  and  we  know 
not  what  it  will  do  when  it  sees  its  very  exist- 
ence in  danger.  Whether  it  will  form  a  league 
with  any  of  the  Pagan  nations  of  the  earth — 
if  such  will  then  be — time  alone  will  deter- 
mine; but  it  has  a  sufficient  number  of  atheists 
and  infidels  within  its  pale,  and  of  its  own  pro- 
per brood,  as  will  justify  the  prophecy,  and 
prove  its  accomplishment.  If  we  are  to  be- 
lieve Dr.  Priestly,  and  Blanco  White,  once  a 
Spanish  priest,  there  is  scarcely  an  ecclesiastic 
in  the  church  of  Rome,  and  especially  its  dig- 
nitaries, but  are  atheists  or  infidels  at  heart. 
As  there  is  an  inveterate  "enmity  in  the  seed 
of  the  serpent  to  the  seed  of  the  woman;" 
these,  with  the  Pantheists  of  Germany,  and 
elsewhere,  together  with  the  secret  societies  of 
the  Illuminati^  Carbonari,  (fee.  will  rush  to  her 
standard  when  unfurled,  as  the  warfare  will  be 
against  the  church  of  God,  which  they  hate, 
and  his  ancient  people,  the  Jews,  whom  he 
will  then  deliver  with  a  high  hand  and  uplifted 
arm.  But  all  these  enemies  of  Christ,  and  of 
his  people,  will  not  only  be  defeated,  but  utterly 
destroyed ;  and  one  can  scarcely  read  the  ac- 
count of  that  dreadful  carnage,  as  depicted  in 
the  14th  and  16th  chapters  of  the  Revela- 


DANIEL^S    PROPHECIES.  133 

tiojV,  without  feeling  the  blood  run  cold  in  his 
veins:  but  it  will  be  the  execution  of  righteous 
judgment.  In  view  of  these  events,  and  from 
"the  signs  of  the  times,"  what  should  the  peo- 
ple of  God  do  at  present?  This  surely;  to  do 
more,  and  to  give  more,  according  to  their 
ability,  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  by  Bible, 
Missionary,  and  Sabbath-school  societies;  and 
while  they  do  more,  and  freely  give,  to  pray 
more  frequently,  ardently,  and  believingly, — 
"Come,  Lord  Jesus;  come  quickly."  Perhaps 
we  cannot  close  these  expositions  more  appro- 
priately, than  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Watts,  in  his 
version  of  part  of  the  65th  Psalm: 

"Let  Babel  fear,  when  Zion  prays: 

Babel,  prepare  for  long  distress, 
When  Zion's  God  himself  arrays 

In  terror  and  in  righteousness. 

"With  dreadful  glory  God  fulfils, 
What  his  afflicted  saints  request; 

And,  with  almighty  wrath,  reveals 
His  love,  to  give  his  churches  rest. 

"Then  shall  the  flocking  nations  run 
To  Zion's  hill,  and  own  their  Lord: 

The  rising  and  the  setting  sun. 

Shall  see  the  Saviour's  name  adored." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    MILLENNIUM,    YET    TO    COME. 

That  there  is  an  era  of  unprecedented  pros- 
perity awaiting  the  church,  is,  we  think,  clearly 
foretold  by  the  prophets.  It  will  be  a  time  of 
universal  righteousness,  purity,  and  peace. — 
Then,  as  predicted  by  the  enraptured  Isaiah, 
"As  the  earth  bringeth  forth  her  bud,  and  as 
the  garden  causeth  the  things  that  are  sown  in 
it  to  spring  forth,  so  the  Lord  God  will  cause 
righteousness  and  praise  to  spring  forth  before 
all  nations."  Then  "shall  they  go  out  with  joy, 
and  be  led  forth  with  peace:  the  mountains 
and  the  hills  shall  break  forth  before  them  into 
singing,  and  all  the  trees  of  the  field  shall  clap 
theirhands."  And  then,  "the  wolf  and  the 
lamb  shall  feed  together;  and  the  lion  shall  eat 
straw  like  the  bullock;  and  dust  sliall  be  the 
serpent's  meat:  they  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy 
in  all  my  holy  mountain,  saith  the  Lord." — 
True,  the  above  description  is  strongly  figura- 
tive; but  then  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  de- 
notes an  era  of  unexampled  purity,  peace  and 
prosperity. 

This  era  is  usually  termed  the  millennium, 
or  a  period  of  1000  years,  because  foretold  and 
alluded  to  by  John  in  Rev.  20:1,  2,  as  that 
passage  is  understood  and  explained  by  many: 


136  THE    MILLENNIUM,  ^ 

W 

"And  I  saw  a  mighty  angel  come  down  from 
heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand.  And  he  laid 
hold  ON  THE  DRAGON,  that  old  serpent,  which 
is  called  the  devil  and  satan,  and  bound  him  a 
thousand  years^  and  cast  him  into  the  bot- 
tomless pit,  and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a  seal 
upon  him,  that  he  should  deceive  the  nations 
no  more,  till  the  thousand  years  be  expired ; 
and  then  he  must  be  loosed  a  little  season." 

We  have  said  that  we  think  that  this  era  is 
yet  to  come;  but  in  opposition  to  this,  we  have 
seen  "a  treatise  on  the  millennium,"  by 
the  Rev.  George  Bush,  A.  M.  of  New- York, 
the  object  of  which  is,  to  prove  that  this  era  is 
past;  and  a  few  remarks  on  tliis  treatise  is  the 
object  of  this  chapter.  On  page  132,  he  says, 
"that  though  the  precise  epoch  of  the  com- 
mencement of  that  period  be  difficult  to  be  de- 
termined, yet  we  cannot  err  very  widely  in 
fixing  it  between  the  years  450  and  600; 
and  in  a  matter  of  this  nature,  to  come  within 
a  century  of  the  truth  may  be  considered  a 
sufficient  approximation  for  all  important  pur- 
poses." And  indeed,  numbers  and  dates  are 
but  unimportant  matters,  in  Mr.  B's.  estimation, 
for  explaining  the  prophecies  of  "the  Reve- 
lation," and  might  as  well  have  been  omitted. 
For,  on  page  254,  when  speaking  of  the  termi- 
nation of  the  Millennium,  he  says,  "it  perhaps 
may  be  one,  two,  or  three  centuries,  before  the 
complete  consummation  of  the  Millennial  pe- 
riod, that  he  (satan)  began  to  set  his  projects 


YET    TO    COME.  137 

on  foot."  But,  passing  this  by,  the  question  is, 
what  took  place  in  the  bounds  of  the  Roman 
empire — the  platform  of  John's  visions — that 
induced  Mr.  B.  to  date  the  commencement  of 
the  Millennium  in  those  years,  or  in  some  inter- 
mediate year?  The  termination  of  the  "war 
in  heaven,"  or  the  church,  between  Michael 
and  his  angels,  and  the  dragon  and  his  angels," 
or  between  Christianity  and  Paganism,  men- 
tioned by  John  in  Rev.  12:7 — 9;  the  result  of 
which  was,  "that  the  dragon  was  cast  out  into 
the  earth,  and  his  angels  with  him."  And 
where  did  the  dragon  go,  when  cast  out  of  the 
christian  part  of  the  Roman  empire?  Mr.  B. 
tells  us,  on  page  159,  '-Ho  those  hoiindless  re- 
gions ichich  stretched  away  beyond  the  liin- 
its  of  the  Koman  empire^  particularly  to  the 
North  and  East^  where  satan  had  long  estab- 
lished  his  throne;  ichere  he  ruled  with  un- 
divided sway;  and  ivhere  idolatry^  in  its 
most  frightful  and  horrid  forms ^  has  ever 
held  a  disastrous  dominion.'^''  This  region, 
he  says,  was  symbolized  by  "the  bottomless  pit," 
in  Rev.  20 ;1 — 3,  or,  tjiat  this  passage  has  refer- 
ence to  the  war  in  heaven,  and  its  conse- 
quences. But  there  is  a  manifest  difference 
between  the  language  and  symbols  of  the  two 
passages.  In  Rev.  12:7 — 9,  it  is  said  that  satan 
and  his  angels  were  only  "cast  out"  of  Chris- 
tendom; and,  according  to  Mr.  B's  own  state- 
ment, permitted  to  roam,  "and  rule  withfundi- 
vided  sway,"  among  the  Pagan  nations  of  the 
North  and  East;  but,  in  Rev.  20:1 — 3,  he  is 


138  THE    MILLENNIUM!, 

represented  as  "bound  with  a  chain,  shut  up  in 
the  bottomless  pit,  and  a  seal  set  upon  him, 
that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more  till 
the  thousand  years  should  be  fulfilled.''  And 
notwithstanding  ?dr.  B's  philological  criticisms 
in  p.  156-'59,  he  has  not  convinced  us  that  the 
bottomless  pit,  or  abyss,  and  the  Pagan  nations 
to  the  North  and  East  of  the  Roman  empire, 
denote  the  same  place.  We  believe  that  "the 
bottomless  pit"  is  the  place  which  Christ  called 
Hiell^  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,  and 
where  the  fire  is  everlasting:"  Mat.  25:41.  We 
believe  also,  that  the  two  passages  relate  to  two 
diflferent  epochs  and  eras;  the  one  to  the  ex- 
pulsion of  Paganism  from  the  Roman  empire, 
and  the  other,  to  what  shall  take  place  after 
the  battle  of  Armageddon,  mentioned  in  Rev. 
16:1G — 21,  where  the  combined  forces  of  the 
dragon,  of  the  beast,  and  of  the  false  prophet, 
will  be  destroyed,  so  as  not  to  disturb  the 
church  until  a  thousand  years  are  fulfilled. — 
And  here  we  would  remark ,  that  we  under- 
stand those  years  as  literal,  and  not  prophetic 
years.  For  the  manner  of  both  Daniel  and 
John,  when  they  wished  to  tell  us  that  "the 
Man  of  sin"  would  persecute  the  church  for 
1260  years,  was,  not  to  say  1260  years,  but 
1260  prophetic  days,  or  42  prophetic  months, 
or,  "a  time,  times,  and  the  dividing  of  time." 

But  Mr.  Bush  tells  us,  in  page  148,  that  they 
who  contend  for  a  Millennium  yet  to  come, 
will  find  "a  textual  difiiculty  of  no  trifling  char- 
acter," in  Rev.  12:12:  "Wo  to  the  inhabiters 


YET    TO    COME.  -  139 

of  the  earth,  and  of  the  sea!  for  the  devil  is 
come  down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath,  be- 
cause he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short 
time."  He  asks,  "if  the  binding  of  satan  was 
not  to  take  place  until  near  two  thousand  years 
after  that  event,  (his  being  cast  out  of  Christen- 
dom,) with  what  propriety  could  it  be  said  that 
he  knew  his  "time  to  be  short?"  We  have  al- 
ready observed,  that  satan's  being  "cast  out," 
and  his  being  "bound,"  have  reference  to  two 
distinct  epochs;  the  one  in  the  fifth  century, 
and  the  other  after  the  battle  of  Armageddon, 
yet  to  come.  It  is  to  the  first  of  these  that  the 
above  words  refer,  and  a  quotation  on  ]\Ir.  B's. 
next  page,  from  Gibbon's  history  of  "the  de- 
cline and  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,"  might 
have  solved  the  difficulty  to  himself  Gibbon 
says,  "that  so  rapid,  yet  so  gentle  was  the  fall 
of  Paganism,  that  only  twenty-eight  years  after 
the  death  of  Theodosius,  the  faint  and  minute 
vestiges  of  Paganism  were  no  longer  visible  to 
the  eye  of  the  legislator."  According  to  Mr. 
B's.  own  dates,  "the  war  in  heaven"  began  in 
the  year  320,  and  Theodosius  died  in  the  year 
395;  and  the  diflference  between  these  two 
epochs  is  only  about  seventy-five  years;  a  short 
time  surely  when  compared  with  the  remaining 
centuries  of  the  christian  era. 

We  will  observe  only  further  on  this  point, 
that  as  Mr.  B.  commences  his  Millennium  be- 
tween the  years  450  and  600,  and  as,  accord- 
ing to  his  scheme,  satan  was  to  be  bound  and 
shut  up  in  the  bottomless  pit  during  that  period, 
13 


140  THE    MILLEi\AIU3I, 

that  he  might  not  deceive  the  nations  as  for- 
merly; then,  one  would  eilpeet  that  from  that 
time  until  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
when  it  would  end,  would  be  a  period  of  su- 
perior spiritual  light  and  life,  and  of  peace  and 
prosperity  in  both  church  and  state.  But  who 
does  not  know  that  the  reverse  was  the  fact. 
It  embraced  what  was  justly  called  '"-the  dark 
ages!!''  during  which  there  was  scarcely  a  vest- 
ige of  civil  liberty;  and  as  for  religious  liberty, 
"the  Man  of  sin,  who  opposeth  and  exalteth 
himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  as  God 
sat  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that 
he  is  God."     2d  Thess.  2:3,4. 

And  to  this  may  be  added,  that  during  that 
period  the  Mahometan  imposture  and  delu- 
sion swept  over  and  desolated  the  Eastern 
churches  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  where 
they  prevail  until  this  day,  with  tiie  exception 
of  Greece  and  her  Islands.  This,  surely,  was 
a  state  of  things  very  different  from  that  prcr 
dieted  by  Isaiah,  and  which  we  believe  to  be 
the  only  Scriptural  Millennium,  and  we  need 
scarcely  say,  yet  to  come.  Indeed,  if  we  were 
to  select  an  era  in  wliich  satan  was  permitted 
"to  deceive  the  nations,"  with  litde  or  no  re- 
straint, it  would  be  that  which  Mr.  B.  has  se- 
lected for  his  Millennium.  But  here  it  may  be 
necessary  to  observe,  in  justice  to  Mr.  B.  that 
he  a<]miis  of  a  progressive  state  of  purity  and 
prosperity  in  the  church,  without  interruption, 
until  the  end  of  time;  but  as  to  a  Millennium, 
except  that  which  we  have  been  noticing,  it  is 


YET    TO    COME.  141 

the  design  of  his  book  to  decry  and  disprove; 
with  what  success,  the  reader  will  judge. 

A  few  remarks  on  the  Gog  and  Magog, 
mentioned  by  both  Ezekiel  and  John,  will  close 
this  chapter.  Mr.  B.  spends  a  great  portion  of 
his  fifth  chapter  in  proving  that  tiie  Gog  and 
Magog,  mentioned  by  Ezekiel  in  the  38th  and 
39th  chapters  of  his  prophecies,  were  the  an- 
cient Scythians  or  Mogul  Tartars,  now  called 
the  Ottoman  Turks,  and  who  invaded  and  sub- 
dued the  Eastern  part  of  the  Roman  empire. 
We  admit  this  as  an  historical  fact, — but  what 
then?  As  the  people  or  powers  who  are  said 
m  Rev.  20:9,  "to  compass  the  camp  of  the 
saints,  and  the  beloved  city,"  are  called  Gog 
and  Magog,  Mr,  Bush  draws  the  conclusion 
that  the  invasions  mentioned  in  Ezekiel  &.  John, 
are  one  and  the  same,  and  have  reference  to 
the  Turkish  invasion  of  the  Eastern  part  of  the 
Roman  empire  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  con- 
sequently that  the  Millennium  is  past,  and  not 
to  come.  But  there  are  some  circumstances 
mentioned  by  both  prophets,  which  convince 
us,  that  the  invasions  of  which  they  speak,  was 
not  the  invasion  of  the  Ottoman  Turks,  on  the 
Eastern  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  but  an  in- 
vasion yet  to  come,  and  alluded  to  by  John  in 
Rev.  16:17—21. 

1st.  The  land  invaded  is  described  by  Eze- 
kiel, 38:8,  as  a  "land  brought  back  from  the 
sword,"  and  expressly  called  "the  mountains 
of  Israel ;"  and  the  people  are  represented  as 
"a  people  gathered  out  of  many  people."     We 


142  THE    MILLENNIU3I, 

need  scarcely  say  that  this  description  is  utterly 
inapplicable  to  the  Jews  in  the  twelfth  century; 
but  applicable  to  them  when  they  shall  be  col- 
lected from  the  nations  where  they  are  now 
dispersed,  and  restored  to  their  own  land,  as  is 
predicted  by  Isaiah  in  chap.  49:22;  60:8 — 11; 
66:20 — 24,  and  in  various  other  places.  And 
not  only  is  this  the  case,  but  the  people  inva- 
ded by  Gog  and  Magog  are  expressly  called  in 
Ezek.  38:16,  ''Jehovah's  people  of  Israel." — 
Mr.  B's.  attempt  in  page  232  to  prove,  that  by 
God's  "people  of  Israel"  in  this  place,  we  are 
to  understand  the  Eastern  christians  of  tlie  Ro- 
man empire,  is  somewhat  surprising;  for  the 
Mahometan  mosque  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
christian  church,  under  the  Saracens,  for  five 
or  six  centuries  prior  to  the  Turkish  invasion. 
And  to  this  may  be  added,  that  the  Turkish  in- 
vasion was  completely  successful.  They  not 
only  subjugated  the  Eastern  part  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  but  they  hold  possession  of  it 
until  this  day;  whereas  Gog  and  Magog,  or  the 
prince  and  the  host,  are  represented  by  Eze- 
kiel,  chap.  39:9 — 16,  as  utterly  cut  off  and  de- 
stroyed by  the  invaded,  or  rather  by  the  hand 
of  Jehovah  himself.  It  is  said  that  their 
weapons  of  war  will  supply  "the  cities  of  Is- 
rael with  fuel  for  seven  years,  and  that  it  will 
take  them  seven  months  to  bury  the  slain." 
Now,  no  event  has  taken  place  in  Christendom, 
nor  is  there  any  prophecy  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  which  the  above  can  be  applied,  but 
the  16th  chapter  of  the  Rjevelatjon,  where 


YET    TO    COME.  143 

we  are  told  of  a  similar  destruction  of  the  com- 
bined forces  of  the  dragon,  of  the  beast,  and  of 
the  false  prophet — or  oflnfidehty,  Popery,  and 
Mahometanism,  in  the  battle  of  Armageddon, 
and  which,  it  would  seem,  is  to  be  fought 
against  the  restored  Jews  in  the  land  of  Judea, 
As  the  "false  prophet,"  or  the  Mahometan 
Turks,  are  to  be  a  party,  and  perhaps  the  insti- 
gators and  leaders  in  this  invasion,  it  may 
therefore  have  been  called  that  of  Gog  and 
Magog.  And  as  the  Tartars  have  ever  been  a 
restless  and  warlike  people,  it  may  also  be  that 
the  insurrection  against  the  church,  at  the  end 
of  the  Millennium,  may  begin  with  that  people, 
and  hence  the  whole  confederacy  be  called 
Gog  and  Magog.     Rev.  20:7—9. 

2d.  The  manner  in  which  the  invading  ar- 
mies of  the  two  Gogs,  the  one  before  and  the 
other  after  the  Millennium,  are  to  be  destroyed, 
shows  that  they  did  not  symbolize  the  Turks, 
who  subjugated  the  Eastern  part  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  and  erected  the  Turkish  empire 
on  its  ruins.  That  it  is  to  this  last  empire  that 
Daniel  alludes,  in  chap.  8:25,  of  his  Prophecy, 
we  have  shown  in  the  6th  chapter  of  this  book. 
And,  as  it  regards  its  final  dissolution,  the  pro- 
phet tells  us  "that  it  will  be  broken  without 
hand,"  or  not  subverted  by  any  external  force 
or  foe,  but  fall  to  pieces  by  its  own  internal  fee- 
bleness. And  on  page  242,  Mr.  B.  says,  that 
"the  doom  of  the  i^Ioslem  dominion  is  not  to  be 
executed  by  a  sudden  blow,  but  by  a  gradual 
process,  like  the  drying  up  of  the  mystical 
13* 


144  THE    MILLENNIUM^y. 

Euphrates,''''  We  presume  that  in  this  he  al- 
ludes to  the  pouring  out  of  the  sixth  vial,  in 
Rev.  16:12,  and  which  many  apply  to  the  dis- 
solution of  the  Turkish  empire;  and  who  does 
not  know  that  this  is  its  present  aspect  and 
state,  evaporating  like  water  under  the  beams 
of  the  sun.  But  how  now  are  the  Gogs  and 
Magogs  of  Ezekiel  and  John  to  be  destroyed? 
By  fire,  the  symbol  of  sudden  and  complete 
destruction;  and  by  fire  sent  down  by  God 
from  heaven.  In  chap.  38:'22,  Ezekiel  intro- 
duces Jehovah  as  saying — ^'I  will  rain  upon 
him,  (Gog,)  and  upon  his  bands,  great  hail- 
stones,  and  fire  and  brimstone."  The  reader 
will  see  the  perfect  correspondence  between 
this  threatening  and  what  is  said  in  Revelation 
16:18 — 21,  respecting  the  destruction  of  the 
combined  forces  of  the  dragon,  of  the  beast, 
and  of  the  false  propliet:  "And  there  were 
voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings;  and 
there  fell  upon  men  a  great  hail  out  of  heaven, 
every  stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent." 
And  as  to  the  Gog  and  Maooor  mentioned  in 
chapter  20:9,  John  says — "And  fire  came 
down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  and  destroyed 
them."  And  yet,  notwithstanding  this,  Mr.  B. 
says  on  page  340,  '*that  the  import  of  the  above 
declarations  is,  that  the  besieging  power  should 
be  wasted  away  in  the  progress  of  time  by  a 
succession  of  calamitous  events."  He  might 
as  well  have  said  that  the  fire  which  came 
down  from  heaven,  as  recorded  in  2d  Kings, 
1:10,  and  which  consumed  the  two  captains 


YET   TO    COME.  145 

and  their  fifty  men,  sent  to  apprehend  the  pro- 
phet Ehjah,  imported  only  that  they  died  by  a 
slow,  lingering  disease.  And  he  might  as  well 
have  said  that  the  shower  of  fire  and  brim- 
stone, which  the  Lord  rained  out  of  heaven  on 
the  very  guilty  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah, imported  only  that  they  died  by  a 
slow,  gradual  consumption.  We  think  that  it 
may  be  said  at  least,  that  the  scheme  of  inter- 
preting the  prophecies  is  to  be  suspected,  that 
compels  a  man  to  disregard  all  prophetic  num- 
bers and  dates,  and  to  give  the  same  meaning 
to  symbols  of  an  opposite  character. 

There  are  two  or  three  other  arguments  ad- 
vanced by  Mr.  Bush,  in  support  of  his  scheme 
of  the  Millennium,  which  we  designed  to  have 
noticed,  if  space  admitted;  but  as  they  are  of 
minor  importance,  and  but  in  a  small  degree 
connected  with  the  preceding  inquiry,  we  will 
therefore  pass  them  by  at  present;  and  from 
what  has  been  advanced  on  both  sides,  the 
reader  may  perhaps  be  prepared  to  decide  for 
himself,  whether  the  Millennial  era,  predicted 
by  the  prophets,  is  past,  or  yet  to  come. 


^ 


CHAPTER    VIIL 

THE   MILLENNIUM. 

Having  proved,  as  we  tliink,  in  the  last 
chapter,  that  the  Millennium  foretold  by  the 
Old  Testament  prophets  is  yet  to  come,  our 
object  in  this  is,  to  inquire  if  it  is  foretold  by 
the  New  Testament  prophets  also,  and  if  so, 
where?  There  have  been  divines  of  no  incon- 
siderable eminence,  who  have  understood  the 
21st,  and  the  five  first  verses  of  the  22d  chap- 
ter of  the  Revelation,  as  referring  to,  and  de- 
scriptive of,  that  blessed  event;  while  others,  of 
no  less  eminence,  are  of  the  opinion  that  those 
chapters  refer  to  the  kingdom  of  glory  only; 
and  among  these  we  find  Dr.  Scott  and  Dr. 
Guyse. 

Dr.  Scott's  opinion  is  founded,  in  the  first 
place,  on  the  circumstance,  that  those  chapters 
follow  an  account  of  the  general  judgment; 
and  therefore,  that  all  that  follows,  must  have 
reference  to  a  future  state.  He  observes,  that 
the  Prophecies  of  Daniel  and  John  follow  each 
other  in  a  regular  chronological  order;  "and 
that  we  can  never  attain  to  a  satisfactory  un- 
derstanding of  prophecy,  if  imagination  or  con- 
jecture be  allowed  to  carry  us  backward  or 
forward,  without   any  fixed  principles,"     Dr. 


148  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

Scott's  argument  on  this  point  will  prove  too 
much;  for  Daniel  in  his  Prophecies,  7:9,  10, 
introduces  the  general  judgment,  and  yet  after- 
wards he  introduced  and  described  the  bold 
and  impious  doings  of  "  the  little  honi,^^  men- 
tioned in  the  8th  verse.  The  Prophecies  of 
Daniel  and  John  do  indeed  follow  each  other 
in  regular  chronological  order;  but  there  is  no 
violation  of  that  order,  should  a  prophet,  after 
describing  a  series  of  prophetical  agents,  go 
back  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  and  de- 
scribing other  agents  or  events  connected  with 
them,  and  which  he  had  but  barely  mentioned 
before;  and  this  John  certainly  did  at  the  12th 
chapter,  as  is  admitted  by  Dr.  Scott.  This,  it 
would  seem  to  us,  was  the  design  of  both  pro- 
phets in  introducing  the  general  judgment  in 
the  places  alluded  to;  the  one  in  Dan.  7:9,  10, 
and  the  other  in  Rev.  20:11 — 14.  They  had 
both  previously  introduced  and  described  the 
four  great  universal  monarchies,  under  appro- 
priate symbols,  and  then  to  inform  us,  that  no 
other  earthly  universal  monarchy  would  be 
erected  in  our  world,  Daniel  tells  us  in  chap. 
7:18,  "  that  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  would 
take  the  kingdom,"  and,  as  John  says,  reign  for 
a  thousand  years,  when  this  world  would  come 
to  an  end,  and  the  general  judgment  ensue. 
Hence  then,  as  it  would  seem,  Daniel,  after  his 
account  of  the  general  judgment,  proceeds  to 
develope  the  character  and  conduct  of  "  the 
little  horn,^^  and  which  he  had  but  barely 
mentioned  in  the  8th  verse  of  the  7th  chapter. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  149 

And  hence  John  also,  after  an  account  of  the 
general  judgment,  proceeds  to  describe  the 
Millennial  church  under  the  symbol  of  "the 
Lamb's  wife,"  and  which  he  had  but  just  men- 
tioned in  the  7th  and  8th  verses  of  the  19th 
chapter.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  Daniel  neu- 
tralizes the  argument  founded  on  the  supposed 
chronolosical  order  of  John. 

But  the  respectable  expositors  alluded  to, 
with  some  others,  defend  their  scheme  of  inter- 
pretation, not  only  by  the  above  argument,  but 
also  from  tlie  contents  of  those  chapters: — 
these  we  will  now  examine  with  as  much  mi- 
nuteness as  our  intended  brevity  will  admit. 

The  !2ist  chapter  is  thus  introduced: — "And 
I  saw  a  new  heaven,  and  a  new  earth;  for  the 
first  heaven  and  the.  first  earth  were  passed 
away;  and  there  was  no  more  sea.  And  I 
John  saw  New  Jerusalem  coming  down  from 
God,  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorn- 
ed for  her  husband.  And  I  heard  a  great  voice 
out  of  heaven,  saying.  Behold,  the  tabernacle 
of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell  with 
them,  and  tliey  shall  be  his  people,  and  God 
himself  will  be  with  tliem,  and  be  their  God. 
And  God  will  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their 
eyes,  and  there  shall  be  no  more  deaths  neither 
sorrow  nor  crying;  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain;  for  the  former  things  are  passed 
away:"  verses  1 — 4. 

As  has  been  already  observed,  the  respecta- 
ble expositors  which  we  have  mentioned,  un- 
derstand this  chapter  as  descriptive  of  the  king- 


150 


THE   MILLENNIUM. 


dom  of  heaven,  or  of  glory,  and  accordingly 
they  understand  the  words  heaven,  earth,  sea, 
and  death,  in  a  Hteral  sense.  But  others,  in 
accordance  with  the  diction  of  the  prophetical 
chapters,  view  these  words  as  symholical,  and 
by  heaven,  they  accordingly  understand  the 
church;  by  er/H/f,  an  universal  monarchy;  by 
sea,  a  nation  in  a  state  of  revolution;  and  by 
death,  not  natural,  but  moral  death,  or  "a 
death  in  trespasses  and  sins:"  Eph.  2:1.  And 
we  have  shown,  in  the  beginning  of  the  first 
chapter,  that  tliese  words  are  to  be  so  under- 
stood in  various  parts  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
especially  in  the  writings  of  the  prophets. 

But  to  come  to  the  point  and  proof  of  what  we 
have  in  view:  The  prophet  Isaiah,  65:17,18, 
introduces  Jehovah  as  saying — ^-Behold,  I  cre- 
ate a  new  heaven,  and  a  new  earth,  and  the 
former  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into 
mind.  But  be  glad  and  rejoice  forever  in  that 
which  I  create;  for  behold  I  create  Jerusalem 
a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy."  It  will  be 
admitted  that  these  words  of  Isaiah  are  as 
strong  as  those  of  John;  and  it  is  moreover 
manifest,  that  John  borrowed  his  diction,  or 
mode  of  expression,  from  Isaiah.  Dr.  Scott 
admits,  in  his  comment  on  Isaiah's  description 
of  the  new  heaven  and  the  now  earth,  that  they 
belong  to  the  church  here  below;  and  we  think 
to  that  state  of  it  called  the  31ilifnniym,and  of 
which,  more  hereafter.  His  interpretation  is 
this:  "By  the  new-creating  power  of  God,  the 
circumstances  of  the  church,  and  the  charac- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  151 

ter  of  men,  will  be  so  altered,  that  it  will  ap- 
pear a  new  world ;  so  that  the  former  confu- 
sions, iniquities  and  miseries  of  the  human 
race  shall  be  no  more  remembered  or  renewed. 
The  servants  of  God  are  therefore  command- 
ed to  rejoice  in  this  new  state  of  things;  for  he 
would  make  Jerusalem  and  her  inhabitants 
joyful,  and  a  joy  to  all  around  them.  Jerusa- 
lem was  a  symbol  or  type  of  the  church,  and 
why  it  is  ci  .led  "New  Jerusalem,"  is  sufficiently 
obvious  from  the  above  comment  of  Dr.  Scott. 
So  far  then  as  we  have  conducted  our  inquiry, 
nothing  has  appeared  decisive,  that  the  21st 
chapter  of  the  Revelation  is  a  description  of 
the  kingdom  of  glory;  but  something,  we  think, 
that  is  a  description  of  the  church  militant  in 
a  state  yet  to  come.     See  also  Isa.  66:22. 

Again:  The  above  excellent  divines,  and 
others,  allege  that  the  description  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  from  the  9th  to  the  24th  verse,  is  so 
magnificent  and  glorious,  as  cannot  comport 
with  any  glory  appertaining  to  the  church  mil- 
itant even  in  her  millennial  state,  and  is  there- 
fore only  applicable  to  the  church  triumphant 
in  heaven.  For  instance,  this  city  is  described 
in  verses  11,  12,  "as  having  the  glory  of  God; 
and  her  light  like  a  stone  most  precious,  even 
like  a  jasper  stone,  clear  as  crystal ;  and  a  wall 
great  and  high."  But  the  prophet  Zechariah, 
2  :  5,  introduces  Jehovah  as  saying  to  his 
church, — "I  will  be  unto  her  a  wall  of  fire 
round  about,  and  a  glory  in  the  midst  of  her." 
And  in  Isa.  60:18,  Jehovah  also  says,  "Vio- 
14 


152  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

lence  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thj  land,  nor 
destruction  within  thy  borders;  but  thou  shalt 
call  thy  walls  salvation,  and  thy  gates  praise." — 
'^The  walls  of  this  city  had  twelve  foundations, 
and  in  them  the  names  of  the  twelve  Apostles 
of  the  Lamb."  But  this  is  equalled,  if  not  ex- 
ceeded, in  the  description  given  of  the  churcli 
militant  by  Paul,  in  Eph.  2;  19— 22:  "Now, 
therefore,  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  for- 
eigners, but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and 
of  the  household  of  God;  and  are  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone; in  whom  all  the  building  filly  framed  to- 
gether, groweth  unto  an  holy  temple  in  the 
Lord." — "The  foundations  of  the  walls  of  this 
city  were  garnished  with  all  manner  of  pre- 
cious stones, — jasper,  chalcedony,  sapphire, 
emerald,  sardonyx,  sardius,"  <fec.  Now,  what- 
ever these  precious  stones  symbolized,  the  pro- 
phet Isaiah,  in  chap.  54:11,  12,  represents  the 
church  here  as  no  less  garnished,  even  in  her 
greatest  afflictions:  "O  thou  afflicted,  tossed 
with  tempest,  and  not  comforted,  behold,  I 
will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  colors,  and  lay  thy 
foundations  with  sapphires.  And  I  will  make 
thy  windows  of  agates,  and  thy  gates  of  car- 
buncles, and  all  thy  borders  of  pleasant  stones." 
These  stones  were  of  different  colors;  and  it 
would  seem,  from  1  Pet.  2:5,  symbolized  the 
gifts  and  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  which 
Paul  tells  us  in  Rom.  12:6,  "were  different,  ac- 
cording to  the  grace  given  unto  us."— "Ye  also, 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  153 

as  lively  (or  living)  stones,  are  built  up  a  spi- 
ritual house,  an  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up 
spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ."* — The  wall  of  this  city  had  twelve 
gates,  and  the  twelve  gates  w^ere  twelve  pearls: 
every  several  gate  was  one  pearl."  Now,  al- 
though Isaiah  does  not  say  how  many  gates 
are  in  the  church  militant,  yet  he  says,  in  the 
passage  lately  quoted,  that  her  gates  are  "car- 
buncles," and  which  Brown,  in  his  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  describes  as  ''a  very  elegant  jewel, 
of  a  deep  red,  mingled  with  scarlet,  and  second 
in  value  to  the  diamond."  It  is  not  our  object 
or  design,  to  point  out  what  we  suppose  to  be 
the  literal  meaning  of  all  the  symbols  in  this 
chapter;  but  we  would  here  observe,  that 
doubtless  these  gates  symbolized  the  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ,  in  his  different  offices  and  relations 
to  his  church,  and  through  whom  there  is  ac- 
cess, from  East,  West,  North  and  South,  to  the 
Father  here,  and  to  glory  and  bliss  hereafter." 

*  We  present  the  curious  reader  with  a  note  of  the  judicious  Dr. 
Guyse,  on  this  place,  respecting  the  color  of  the  different  stones 
mentioned  by  Johrii  "I  cannot  pretend  to  determine  what,  or 
whether  any  thing  particularly,  was  signified  by  the  variety  of  these 
precious  stones.  But  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  from  the  best  accounts 
I  have  met  with,  of  these  stones  themselves,  the  jasper  is  a  stone  of 
several  colors,  the  most  excellent  of  which  is  green,  spotted  with 
red  or  purple;  the  sapphire  is  of  a  sky-colored  blue,  transparent, 
and  very  hard;  the  chalcedony  is  of  a  shining  grey,  clouded  with 
yellow,  or  purple,  or  blue;  the  emerald  is  of  an  exceeding  fine 
green;  the  sardonyx  is  of  pale  red;  the  sardius  is  like,  if  not  the 
same,  as  the  cornelian  stone,  of  a  blood  color;  the  chrysolite  is  green, 
with  a  shade  of  yellow;  the  beryl  is  a  pale  green;  the  topaz  is  of 
a  gold  color,  transparent  and  hard;  the  chrysophrastus  is  of  a  yel- 
lowish  green;  the  jacinth  is  of  a  violet  or  purple  color;  the  ame- 
thyst is  of  a  color  resembling  the  jacinth;  and  the  pearl  is  a  round, 
white,  shining  substance,  and  is  eoraraonly  bred  in  a  shelLiish," 


151  THE    MILLEIVNIUM. 

^'Twelve  angels  were  at  the  twelve  gates,  and 
names  written  thereon,  which  are  the  names  of 
the  twelve  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel." 
The  word  angel  signifies  a  messenger,  and  is 
frequently  used  in  the  Scriptures,  to  denote 
those  pure  and  exalted  spirits  who  surround  the 
throne  of  God  on  high,  "and  sent  forth  to  be 
ministers  for  them  who  shall  be  the  heirs  of 
salvation."  The  interpreters,  who  understand 
the  passage  which  we  are  now  examining,  as 
descriptive  of  the  kingdom  of  glory,  understand 
the  word  in  this  sense,  and  that  the  angels  are 
stationed  at  the  gates  of  the  New  Jerusalem,- 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  those  who  have  a 
right  to  enter  therein.  But  the  word  is  used 
seven  times  in  the  2d  and  3d  chapters  of  the 
Revelation,  to  denote  the  pastors  of  particu- 
lar churches,  part  of  whose  office  it  is  to  admit 
to  the  privileges  of  "the  city  of  God,"  or  of  the 
church,  all  who  apply  for  admission,  and  are 
deemed  worthy  of  those  privileges.  And  the 
Psalmist,  in  the  19th  verse  of  the  118th  Psalm, 
tells  us  that  righteousness,  or  an  interest  in  the 
Redeemer's  righteousness,  received  by  faith, 
and  a  righteous  or  renewed  heart,  is  the  gate 
of  entrance,  as  it  regards  ourselves,  or  the  qual- 
ification for  admission;  but  then,  this  ultimately 
leads  up  to  Christ  as  "the  author  and  finisher 
of  faith,"  and  "the  pearl  of  great  price." — 
"Open  to  me  the  gates  of  righteousness:  I  will 
go  in  to  them:  this  is  the  gate  of  the  Lord,  into 
which  the  righteous  shall  Winter."  As  for  its 
being  said  that  there  are  twelve  angels  at  the 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  155 

gates  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  we  are  told,  in 
the  14th  verse,  that  this  has  reference  to  the 
twelve  apostles,  as  the  instrumental  founders  of 
the  christian  church.  And  as  for  its  being  also 
said,  that  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Is- 
rael were  written  on  these  gates;"  this,  we 
think,  has  reference  to  the  future  conversion  of 
the  Jews  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  foretold  by 
many  of  the  prophets,  and  by  Isaiah  particu- 
larly, in  the  35th  chapter  of  his  Prophecy,  and 
10th  verse:  "And  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord 
shall  return,  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs,  and 
everlasting  joy  on  their  heads;  they  shall  obtain 
joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall 
flee  away."  This  promise  is  not  applicable  to 
the  return  of  the  Jews  from  the  captivity  at 
Babylon;  for  they  returned  in  distressing  cir- 
cumstances, and  have  seen  many  sorrowful 
days  and  years  since  that  time.  It  is  now  left 
with  the  reader  to  say  which  of  the  two  inter- 
pretations, respecting  the  twelve  angels  which 
were  stationed  at  the  gates  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, is  most  accordant  with  the  other  parts 
of  the  chapter,  and  which  is  admitted  on  both 
sides  to  be  highly  symbolical,  with  an  exception, 
which  will  be  noticed  in  the  proper  place. — 
"The  gates  of  the  New  Jerusalem  were  not 
&hut  at  all  by  day."  So  it  is  said  of  the  gates 
of  the  church  militant;  and  we  think,  with  a 
special  reference  to  the  Millennium.  "Thy 
gates  shall  be  open  continually;  they  shall  not 
be  shut  day  nor  night;  that  men  may  bring 
unto  thee  tjie  forces  of  the  Gentiles,  and  that 
14* 


l56  THE    MILLENNIU]«f, 

kings  may  be  brought:"  Isa.  60:11. — "Was  an 
angel  employed  to  measure  this  city,  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  its  dimensions  and  com- 
plete proportions — -a  cube  of  1200  furlongs,  or 
1500  miles  on  each  side— so  was  the  church 
militant  measured  in  Ezekiel's  visions,  as  we 
are  told  in  the  40th  chapter;  and  so  was  the 
true  church  measured  in  John's  visions,  as 
he  tells  us  in  Rev.  11:1. — "The  city  itself  was 
of  pure  gold,  like  unto  clear  glass."  We  have 
already  observed  that  the  true  church,  or  the 
believing  portion  of  it,  is  called  the  city  of  God, 
"There  is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall 
make  glad  the  city  of  God,  the  holy  place  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  Most  High:"  Psalm  46:4. 
In  the  preceding  Psalm,  1st  verse,  Christ  is  ex- 
hibited as  a  King;  and  in  the  19th  verse,  the 
true  church  is  introduced  as  his  Queen,  stand- 
ing at  his  right  hand,  "dressed  in  gold  of 
Ophir;"  and  the  apostle  Peter,  in  1st  Eph.  1:7, 
tells  us  what  this  gold  symbolized  r  "That  the 
trial  of  your  faith  being  much  more  precious 
than  that  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though  it  be 
tried  with  the  fire,  might  be  found  unto  praise 
and  honor  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of  Christ." 
A  faith  in  Christ  then,  that  withstands  trials 
and  temptations,  is  this  gold ;  and  this  accords 
with  what  Jehovah  himself  says  of  his  ancient 
people,  the  Jews,  who  will  constitute  a  promi- 
nent part  of  the  Millennial  church,  in  Zech. 
13:9:  "And  I  will  bring  the  third  part  through 
the  fire,  and  refine  them  as  silver  is  refined, 
and  try  them  as  gold  is  tried:  they  will  call  on 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  157 

my  name,  and  I  will  hear  them:  I  will  say,  It  is 
my  people;  and  they  shall  say,  The  Lord  is  my 
God."  And  here  we  would  observe,  that  this 
faith  is  peculiar  to  the  church  militant,  and  not 
to  the  church  triumphant,  where  faith  is  merged 
in  vision,  and  love  in  fruition. 

Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  there  is  not  any 
thing,  however  grand  or  glorious,  that  is  said 
of  the  New  Jerusalem,  that  is  not  applicable, 
and  applied  to  the  church  militant,  cither  in 
her  former,  or  present,  or  future  Millennial 
state.  But  it  may  be  said,  that  John  tells  us 
in  the  22d  verse,  "  that  he  saw  no  temple  in 
the  New  Jerusalem;  for  the  Lord  God  Al- 
mighty, and  the  Lamb,  are  the  temple  of  it." 
And  Dr.  Scott  remarks  on  this  verse,  "that  the 
temple  was  essential  to  the  literal  Jerusalem, 
as  its  greatest  ornament  and  honor;  and  it 
made  a  prominent  part  of  Ezekiel's  vision  of 
the  church  during  the  Millennium,  under  the 
emblem  of  the  holy  city."  There  is  not,  in 
our  apprehension,  any  irreconcilable  difference 
between  Ezekiel  and  Jolm.  Ezekiel's  object 
was,  to  present  to  our  view  the  perfect  order  of 
the  Millennial  church,  and  the  pure  worship 
that  would  be  rendered  to  God  during  that 
period,  under  symbols  which  cannot  be  clearly 
deciphered  now,  but  doubtless  will  be  clearly 
understood  in  that  dispensation  of  superior 
light  and  holiness.  And  John's  object,  we 
think,  was  to  inform  us,  that  no  literal  temple 
will  be  erected  by  the  converted  Jews  for  the 
worship  of  Jehovah;   but,  as  Christ  told  the 


158  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

woman  of  Samaria,  "the  true  worshipers  will 
worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  in 
all  regions  of  the  earth.     Thus  the  Lord  God 

CD 

Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple,  or  the 
immediate  objects  of  worship;  or,  in  other 
words,  the  Father  will  be  approached  imme- 
diately through  the  Son  as  the  Mediator,  and 
not  through  the  intervention  of  Jewish  sacri- 
fices, and  without  any  reference  to  the  circum- 
stance that  Jehovah  once  dwelt  by  what  was 
called  the  Shekinah^  in  the  holy  of  holies  of 
the  temple  built  by  the  wnse  King  of  Israel. 
Perhaps  the  above  words  were  designed  to  in- 
form us,  that  there  will  be  no  worship  of  saints 
or  angels  in  tiie  Millennial  church. 

But  it  is  said  in  the  23d  verse,  "that  this 
city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  nor  of  the  moon 
to  shine  in  it;  for  the  glory  of  God  enlightens, 
it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof."  There 
is  a  similar  passage  in  Isa.  60:19;  and  as  the 
reader  will  see,  John  has  again  borrowed  the 
language  and  imagery  of  Isaiah:  "The  sun 
shall  be  no  more  thy  light  by  day;  neither  for 
brightness  shall  the  moon  give  light  unto  thee; 
but  the  Lord  shall  be  unto  diee  an  everlasting 
light,  and  thy  God  thy  glory."  It  is  evident 
from  the  two  next  verses,  that  Isaiah  has 
reference  to  the  church  in  this  world;  and 
from  the  similarity  of  both  passages,  it  would 
seem  that  they  refer  to  the  same  time  and  state 
of  the  church;  and  the  question  now  is,  what 
is  that  time  and  state?  We  know  of  no  other 
answer,  than  that  they  refer  to  her  Millennial 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  159 

state,  when,  as  foretold  by  Isaiah ,  30:26,  "the 
light  of  the  moon  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the 
sun,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  sevenfold,  as  the 
light  of  seven  days,  in  the  day  that  the  Lord 
bindeth  up  the  breach  of  his  people,  and  heal- 
eth  the  stroke  of  their  wound."  Not  that  any 
new  revelation  of  the  will  and  mind  of  God  to 
men,  will  be  given  to  the  Millennial  church,  for 
we  have  all  that  God  designed  to  give;  but  the 
Spirit  of  light  will  then  so  shine  into  the  un- 
derstandings and  hearts  of  men,  that  many 
passages  of  that  revelation,  which  are  but  dimly 
seen  at  present,  will  be  clearly  seen  in  their 
true  meaning,  and  the  divine  force  of  the 
whole,  felt  in  such  a  manner  as  has  not  yet 
been  felt.  Jehovah's  revealing  and  bestowing 
enlightening  and  purifying  grace  on  guilty  and 
undeserving  man,  is  his  greatest  glory;  and 
from  his  bestowing  such  a  degree  of  grace  on 
the  Millennial  church,  as  is  mentioned  in  the 
passage  last  quoted,  it  may  and  will  be  said  that 
the  glory  of  God  enlightens  her,  and  that  the 
Lamb,  through  whom  this  grace  is  conveyed, 
"is  the  light  thereof." 

As  for  Isaiah's  saying  that  the  sun  should 
no  more  enlighten,  nor  the  moon,  for  bright- 
ness, give  light  to  the  church,  we  understand 
him  as  alluding  to  the  moral  or  spiritual  light 
of  the  christian  and  Jewish  dispensations  of 
grace,  symbolized  by  the  sun  and  moon,  to  be 
exceeded  "sevenfold"  by  that  of  the  Millen- 
nium. Nor  is  this  the  only  place  where  these 
dispensations   are   so    symbolized.     It   is   the 


160  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

church,  we  think,  that  is  thus  addressed  in 
Song  6:10:  "Who  is  she  that  looketh  forth  as 
the  morning,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun, 
and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners?"  Look- 
ing fortli  as  the  dawning  morning,  in  the  patri- 
archal age;  fair  and  resplendent  as  the  moon, 
in  the  Mosaic  economy;  clear  as  the  sun  in  the 
present  dispensation  and  day;  and  terrible  as  an 
army  with  banners,  in  respect  to  the  greatness 
and  extent  of  her  spiritual  conquests,  in  her 
Millennial  state;  ''destroying  the  works  of  the 
devil,"  and  sweetly  constraining  the  nations  to 
bow  to  the  sceptre  of  grace,  and  "the  obe- 
dience of  fiiith."  If  this  is  not  the  meaning  of 
the  above  passages,  we  cannot  conceive  of  any 
other.  Isaiah  could  not  have  reference  to  the 
literal  sun  and  moon  of  our  world;  for  they 
will  continue  not  only  during  the  Millennium^ 
but  to  the  end  of  time. 

From  not  being  aware  that  in  the  prophet- 
ical writings,  the  sun  and  moon  symbolized  the 
christian  and  Jewish  dispensations  of  grace, 
for  some  years  we  considered  Rev.  !2I:'23,  as 
a  decisive  proof  that  the  chapter,  of  which  it 
is  a  part,  was  descriptive  of  the  glory  and  hap- 
piness of  heaven.  But  a  more  close  examina- 
tion of  the  purport  and  meaning  of  the  pro« 
phetical  symbols;  the  explanation  given  to  the 
verses  which  immediately  follow,  by  Scott, 
Guyse,  and  some  other  commentators  and  ex- 
positors, led  us  to  doubt,  and  finally  to  prefer 
the  opinion  of  those  who  think  them  descrip- 
tive of  the  Millennial  era  of  the  church.     The 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  161 

verses  alluded  to  are  these:  "And  the  nations 
of  them  that  are  saved^  shall  walk  in  the  light 
of  it,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  do  hring  their 
glory  into  it.  And  the  gates  of  it  shall  not  be 
shut  by  day;  for  there  is  no  night  there.  And 
they  shall  bring  the  glory  and  honor  of  the  na- 
tions into  it."  That  portion  of  these  verses  that 
relate  to  the  nations  and  kings  of  the  earth,  is  in 
our  opinion  literal,  and  the  remainder  symbol- 
ical; and  to  introduce  something  literal,  in  the 
midst  of  what  is  symbolical,  for  the  purpose  of 
shedding  light  on  what  went  before,  is  not  un- 
common in  the  prophetical  writings:  see  Rev. 
6:0,  and  the  verse  immediately  following  those 
now  adduced.  Dr.  i^cott  interprets  these  verses 
thus:  ''The  inhabitants  of  this  city  will  not 
only  be  numerous  above  those  of  other  cities, 
but  nations,  many  nations  of  those  whom  Je- 
sus hath  saved,  will  dwell  in  it,  and  walk  in  the 
light  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  perpetually  and 
eternally.  If  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  had 
concurred  to  bring  the  whole  of  their  wealth, 
magnificence  and  glory  into  one  place,  it  could 
not  have  borne  any  comparison  with  this  holy 
city."  The  exposition  of  Dr.  Guyse  is  to  the 
same  purport  and  amount.  How  these  exposi- 
tions may  appear  to  others,  we  do  not  know, 
but  to  ourselves  they  are  not  satisfactory;  for 
there  is  no  comparison  in  the  above  verses  be- 
tween the  population  of  one  city  and  another,  nor 
of  the  wealth  and  glory  of  one  king  or  kingdom 
with  another;  but  a  plain,  positive  affirmation, 
that  the  kings  and  nations  which  shall  be  saved 


162  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

from  the  slaughter  at  Armageddon,  as  we  think, 
and  which  will  immediately  precede  the  Mil- 
lennium,— that  these  nations,  and  their  kings, 
will  see  the  dawn  of  that  happy  era,  and  bring 
their  wealth  and  influence  into  the  New  Jeru- 
salem; and  will  be  a  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy 
and  promise,  in  Isa.  49:23,  "that  kings  will  be 
nursing  fathers,  and  their  queens  nursing  moth- 
ers to  the  church."  And,  as  is  not  unusual  with 
the  prophets,  John  represents  it,  though  future, 
as  then  present,  for  the  purpose  of  impressing 
the  certainty  of  the  fulfilment  more  deeply  on 
the  mind  of  the  reader.  As  for  the  expression 
in  the  25th  verse,  that  there  will  be  no  night  in 
the  New  Jerusalem,  we  consider  it  the  symbol 
of  moral  darkness,  as  it  is  in  Rom.  13:12: 
"TAe  night  is  far  spent;  the  day  is  at  hand ;  let 
us  therefore  cast  off  the  works  of  darkness,  and 
let  us  put  on  the  armor  of  light." 

But,  besides  this,  the  manner  in  which  the 
holy  city  appeared  to  John,  as  recorded  in  the 
2d  and  3d  verses  of  this  chapter,  implies,  in  our 
apprehension,  that  it  was  to  reside  here  below, 
and  was  coiisequently  not  the  symbol  of  the 
habitation  of  the  blessed  in  heaven.  He  saw 
it  coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven;  and 
at  the  same  time  heard  a  great  voice  out  of 
heaven  saying,  "Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God 
is  with  meny  Now,  this  is  not  a  stronger,  but 
an  expression  similar  to  that  of  Solomon  at  the 
dedication  of  the  temple:  "But  will  God  in  very 
deed  dwell  with  men  on  the  earth?"  and  refers 
io  the  same  place,  this  world,  and  to  the  same 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  163 

manner  of  divine  residence,  by  the  enlightening 
influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  John 
had  a  vision  of  those  who  had  "washed  their 
robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,"  as  recorded  in  the  7th  chapter,  the 
scene  is  laid  in  heaven,  or  the  habitations  of 
the  just,  where  are  "the  Lamb,  and  the  angels, 
and  the  elders,  and  the  four  living  creatures:" 
but  he  saw  the  New  Jerusalem  descending  from 
heaven  to  earth,  and  as  it  would  seem,  for  the 
purpose  of  abiding  there.  And  it  is  expressly 
called  a  tabernacle,  in  allusion  to  Jehovah's  re- 
siding, in  a  certain  sense  and  manner,  in  the 
tabernacle  of  the  Jewish  church  in  the  wilder- 
ness. And  we  do  not  know  that  the  church 
triumphant  is  any  where,  in  the  Scriptures, 
held  out  to  our  view  under  the  symbol  of  a 
tabernacle;  but  the  church  militant  is  repeat- 
edly so  exhibited,  as  in  the  15th,  46th  and  61st 
Psalms.  Besides,  the  dwellers  or  worshipers 
in  this  tabernacle,  are  represented  in  the  6th 
verse,  as  in  an  imperfect  state  of  sanctification: 
"And  I  will  give  unto  him  that  is  athirst^  of  the 
fountain  of  the  water  of  life  freely."  But  those 
whom  John  saw  before  the  throne,  and  before 
the  Lamb,  "neither  hunger  any  more,  nor  thirst 
any  more;  for  the  Lamb  shall  feed  them,  and 
lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  water," 
where  they  drink  so,  as  not  to  thirst,  as  they  did 
in  this  world. 

And  yet  this  is  not  all:     The  vision  and 
scene  of  the  New  Jerusalem  is  continued  to 
the  6th  verse  of  the  22d,  and  last  chapter  of 
15 


164  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

the  Revelation.     In  the  1st  and  2d  verses  of 
the  chapter,  John  says  "that  he  saw  a  pure 
river  of  the  water  of  life  proceeding  out  of  the 
throne  of  God,  and  of  the  Lamb.     In  the  midst 
of  the  street  of  it,  and  on  either  side  of  the 
river,  was  there  the  tree  of  life,   which  bare 
twelve  manner  of  fruits,  and  yielded  her  fruit 
every  month ;  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were 
for   the    healhig  of  the  nations."      That  this 
river  of  the  water  of  life  is  the  same,  and  ha^ 
reference  to  the   same  time   and   state  of  the 
church,  with  that  which  Ezekiel  saw,  recorded 
in   the  47th  chapter  of  his    Prophecies,   and 
which  issued  from  the  sanctuary  of  the  house 
or  temple  which  he  had    been  describing,  is 
evident  from  the  circumstances,  that  in  Eze- 
kiel's  vision,  "  trees  were  also  on  either  side 
of  the  river,  and  bare  their  fruits  every  month." 
It  is  equally  evident,  that  John  also  borrowed 
his  diction  from  Ezekiel;  and  let  it  be  remem- 
bered, that  it  is  admitted  on  both  sides  that 
EzekiePs  vision  had  reference  to  the  church 
militant,  and  not  to  the  church  triumphant.     It 
is  also  admitted,  that  the  water  of  life,  in  both 
John-s  and  EzekiePs  visions,  was  symbolical 
of  the  vivifying  and  purifying  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.     These  waters,  in  respect  to  their 
different  depths,  at  different  distances,  doubt- 
less  symbolized    something   which,   if  ascer- 
tained, might  shed  some  light  on  the  subject 
which  we  are  discussing.     At  the  distance  of  a 
thousand  cubits  from  where  they  issued,  Eze- 
kiel tells  US,  that  as  he  passed  through  them. 


THE    MILLENNIU3I.  165 

"the  waters   were   to   the   ankles:"   verse  3d. 
Now  may  there  not  be,  in  this  circumstance,  a 
symbolical  allusion  to  the  very  limited  degree 
of  spiritual  life  and  light  in  the  Patriarchal  age 
of  the  church?    At  the  distance  of  a  thousand 
cubits  from  this,  "  the   waters  reached  to  the 
knees:"  verse  4.   And  may  there  not  be  in  this 
an  allusion  to  the  greater  degree  of  spiritual 
life  in  the  Mosaic  economy  of  grace?    At  the 
distance  of  a  thousand  cubits  more,  "the  wa- 
ters reached  to  his  loins:"  and  may  there  not 
be,  in  this  circumstance,  an  allusion  also  to  the 
greater  diffusion  of  spiritual  life  and  light  in  the 
present  dispensation?  and  therefore  styled  "the 
ministration  of  the  Spirit."     And  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  thousand  cubits  farther,  "the  waters 
became  a  river;  waters  to  swim  in;  a  river 
that  could  not  be  passed  over."  And  may  there 
not  be  in  this  circumstance,  an  allusion  also  to 
the  extraordinary  outpouring  of  the  Spirit's  in- 
fluences in  the  Millennial  age  of  the  church, 
when,  as  we  are  told,  "all  shall  be  taught  of 
God,"  and  "all  shall  be  righteous?"    Some  ex- 
positors do  indeed  apply  the  different  and  in- 
creasing depth  of  these  waters  to  the  gradual 
spread  and  increase  of  the  gospel  from  a  small 
beginning.    But  a  consideration  of  what  are 
usually  called  '-'-the  dark  ages^'^  when  Chris- 
tendom, for  some  centuries,  went  morally  and 
mentallv  backward   instead  of  forward,  stand 
much  in  the  way  of  such  an  exposition.     But 
what  we  wish  the  reader  to  attend  to  particu- 
larly, is,  that  these  waters  are  said,  in  the  8th 


166  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

and  9th  verses,  to  be  of  an  healing  quaHty, 
and  "healed  wherever  they  went,  and  that 
every  thing  shall  live  whither  the  river  com- 
eth."  And  not  only  was  that  the  case,  but  it 
is  said  in  the  12th  verse,  that  the  leaves  of  the 
trees  mentioned  by  Ezekiel,  were  for  "medi- 
cine," and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  mentioned  by 
John,  "were  for  the  healing  of  the  nations." 
Now,  all  these  circumstances  also  clearly  imply 
an  imperfect  state  of  sanctification  in  the  in- 
habitants of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  cannot 
be  applied  to  the  church  triumphant  in  heaven, 
but  are  applicable  to  the  church  in  even  her 
Millennial  state;  for  infants  will  then  come  into 
the  world  as  now,  with  depraved  hearts,  and 
will  then  need  regenerating  and  sanctifying 
grace,  as  they  do  now. 

It  is  indeed  said  in  Rev.  22:5,  "that  there 
will  be  no  night"  in  the  New  Jerusalem,  "nor 
need  of  a  candle,  or  of  the  light  of  the  sun ;"  but 
what  th«se  symbols  import,  we  have  already 
seen.  It  is  also  said,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
this  city  "shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever;"  but 
these  words  are  indefinite  in  their  meaning. 
Sometimes  they  are  used  to  signify  the  end  of 
a  dispensation  of  grace,  or  the  end  of  the 
world,  as  in  Jer.  7:7:  "Then  will  I  cause  you 
to  dwell  in  this  place,  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to 
your  fathers  for  ever  and  ever."  And  some- 
times, that  the  honor  of  the  righteous  will  not 
be  temporal,  but  eternal,  as  in  Dan.  12:3: 
"And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament;  and  they  that  turn 


THE  milIennium.  IG'T 

many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever."  And  in  this  place,  the  words  may  im- 
port, that  the  joys  and  honor  of  the  inhabitants 
of  this  city  will  not  end  with  the  end  of  the 
Millennium,  but  be  consummated  in  eternal 
glory. 

And  here  we  would  remark,  that  although 
we  consider,  and  think  we  have  proved,  that 
the  21st  and  22d  chapters  of  the  Revela- 
tion were  designed  to  give  us  a  view  of  the 
church  of  Christ  in  her  Millennial  glory;  yet 
we  will  not  say  that  they  may  not  have  been 
also  intended  as  a  figurative  description  of  the 
glories  and  happiness  of  the  church  triumphant 
in  heaven.  We  do  not  know  that  there  would 
be  any  incongruity  in  viewing  them  in  this 
point  of  light,  for  it  is  not  uncommon  in  the 
Scriptures,  for  a  figurative  description  of  one 
event  to  be  designed  as  descriptive  of  another 
event  that  is  future,  when  there  is  an  analogy 
in  the  manner  and  means  by  which  the  two 
events  are  produced.  Thus  Christ,  in  Matt. 
24:29 — 31,  foretells  and  describes  in  strong 
symbolical  language  the  dissolution  of  the  Jew- 
ish church  and  state;  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
tersperses it  with  such  expressions  as  shows  that 
he  designed  it  should  be  understood  as  having 
reference  also  to  the  dissolution  of  this  world 
at  the  day  of  judgment.  Drs.  Guyse  and  Scott 
both  understand  that  passage  so.  And  had 
they  admitted  that  the  21st  and  22d  chapters 
of  the  Revelation  had  primarily  reference  to 
the  Millennium,  and  ultimately  to  the  glories 
15.^ 


168  THE   MILLENNIUM. 

and  happiness  of  heaven,  we  would  not  have 
disagreed  with  them.  And  indeed,  in  a  note 
on  the  first  verse  of  the  22d  chapter,  Dn 
Guyse  seems  not  much  averse  to  such  an  ex- 
position of  those  chapters.  Speaking  of  the 
New  Jerusalem,  he  says  in  the  close  of  that 
note,  "If  it  is  supposed  to  have  any  relation  to 
the  Millennium,  it  is  only  to  what  will  then  he 
fulfilled  in  part,  as  a  lively  figure  of  what  wall 
be  more  gloriously  completed  in  the  heavenly 
state." 

And  here,  an  objection  of  a  general  charac-^ 
ter  presents  itself  It  amounts  to  this,  that  it 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  canon  of  divine 
revelation  would  be  closed  without  giving  us 
some  particular  and  extended  account  of  the 
abode  and  blessedness  of  the  righteous:  but  if 
not  in  these  chapters,  there  is  no  such  account 
in  the  scriptures.  This  is  admitted,  and  the 
Apostle  Paul  assigns  the  reason  why  it  is  so. 
In  2  Cor.  12:4,  he  tells  us  that  he  was  caught 
up  into  Paradise,  ''and  there  heard  unspeak- 
able words,  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  man  to 
utter."  And  elsewhere  he  says,  "that  eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neitlier  have  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God 
hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him."  This, 
with  what  John  has  said  in  the  7th  chapter, 
and  other  inspired  writers  have  said  occasion- 
ally, though  briefly,  should  suffice,  and  should 
silence  the  objection. 

As  intimately  connected  with  this  subject,  it 
may  be  necessary,  to  a  full  view  of  our  scheme 


THE    MILLEINNIUM.  169 

of  interpreting  the  prophecies  of  John,  to  make 
a  few  observations  on  the  resurrections  men- 
tioned in  Rev.  20:4 — 6:  "And  I  saw  thrones, 
and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was 
given  unto  them;  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them 
that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus, 
and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  which  had  not 
worshiped  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither 
had  received  his  mark  on  their  foreheads,  or  in 
their  hands,  and  they  lived  and  reigned  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years.  But  the  rest  of  the 
dead  Hved  not  again  until  the  thousand  years 
were  fulfilled.  This  is  the  first  resurrection. 
Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the 
first  resurrection:  on  such  the  second  death 
hath  no  power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God 
and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thou- 
sand years." 

From  these  verses  some  have  inferred  that 
there  will  be  a  resurrection  of  the  martyrs  for 
the  testimony  of  Jesus  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Millennium,  and  that  Christ  will  descend 
from  heaven  to  earth,  and  that  they  shall  reign 
with  him  a  thousand  years.  It  may  be  sufficient 
for  us  to  say,  that  on  this  subject  we  fully  accord 
with  the  views  and  interpretations  of  Drs. 
Guvse  and  Scott,  and  to  which  we  refer  the 
reader.  That  it  is  a  symbolical,  and  not  a  lit- 
eral resurrection,  that  is  here  meant;  or,  that 
as  John  the  Baptist  came  "in  the  spirit  and 
power  of  the  prophet  Elijah,"  so,  a  great  num- 
ber of  men  will  then  appear  with  the  spirit  and 
cJiaracter  of  the  martyrs  of  old,  and  be  sue- 


170  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

ceeded  by  men  of  a  like  spirit  until  the  end  of 
time.  Our  intended  brevity  will  not  allow  us 
to  adduce  the  arguments  which  support  this  in- 
terpretation, and  we  will  again  refer  the  reader 
to  the  comments  of  the  above  worthy  divines 
on  this  point;  for  although  we  have  differed 
from  them  respecting  their  interpretation  of 
some  of  the  Prophecies  of  John,  yet  we  know 
not  any  commentators^  or  expositors,  whom  we 
would  sooner  recommend,  as  to  their  opinions 
and  interpretations  of  the  doctrinal  and  precep- 
tive parts  of  the  word  of  God.  A  mistake  in 
regard  to  the  meaning  of  some  of  the  prophe- 
cies, is  no  criterion  of  any  man's  intellect,  or  of 
soundness  or  unsoundness  in  the  faith;  for  on 
this  subject  the  great  Sir  Isaac  Newton  himself 
^vas  mistaken,  as  undoubted  history  has  fully 
proved.  We  will  close  this  chapter  with  a  few 
observations  on  the  character  of  the  Millennial 
age,  not  drawn  from  imagination  or  conjecture, 
as  we  have  sometimes  seen,  but  from  the  un- 
erring word  of  God  itself 

1st.  The  knowledge  of  God  and  divine  things 
will  then  be  universally  diffused. — Isa.  11:9: 
''The  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea."  And 
in  chapter  54:19,  is  this  promise  to  the  church: 
"All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord, 
and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children." 
And  again,  Jer.  31:34:  "And  they  shall  teach 
no  more  every  man  his  neighbor,  and  every 
man  his  brother,  saying,  know  the  lord;  for 
they  shall  all  know  me,  from  the  least  of  thenx 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  171 

even  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the  Lord; 
for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  remember 
their  sin  no  more,"  These,  with  other  prophe- 
cies of  a  similar  cimracter,  must  refer  to  the 
Millennial  era  of  the  church;  for  three-fourths 
of  the  human  race  are  now,  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  lying  in  thick  moral  and  mental  dark- 
ness and  idolatry,  or  in  Mahometan  delusion, 
or  in  Jewish  unbelief 

2d.  It  will  be  a  period  of  universal  holiness 
and  righteousness,  produced  by  an  extraordi- 
nary outpouring  of  the  Spirit's  influences,  as  a 
Spirit  of  sanctification.  The  influences  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  church  have  been,  hitherto,  as  the 
softening  and  refreshing  dew:  "I  will  be  as  the 
dew  unto  Israel;"  or,  "as  rain  upon  the  mown 
grass,  and  showers  that  water  the  earth."  But 
in  that  period,  they  are  compared  to  floods  of 
salvation,  poured  out  on  persons  of  every  age. 
Isa.  44:34,  "I  will  pour  water  on  him  that  is 
thirsty,  and  floods  on  the  dry  ground ;  I  will 
pour  out  my  Spirit  on  tiiy  seed,  and  my  bless- 
ing on  thy  oftspring,  and  they  shall  grow  up  as 
among  the  grass,  and  as  willows  by  the  water- 
courses." This  will  account  for  what  is  said 
in  Isa.  66:8:  "Who  hath  heard  such  a  thing? 
who  hath  seen  such  a  thing?  Shall  the  earth 
be  made  to  bring  forth  in  one  day?  or  shall  a 
nation  be  born  at  once?  For  as  soon  as  Zion 
travailed,  she  brought  forth  her  children."  And 
to  this  we  add  Isa.  35:7,8 — "And  the  parched 
ground  shall  become  a  pool,  and  the  thirsty  land 
springs  of  water;  in  th^  habitation  of  dragons. 


172 


THE    MILLENNIUM. 


where  each  lay,  shall  be  grass  with  reeds  and 
rushes.  And  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  it 
shall  be  called  the  way  of  holifiess;  the  un- 
clean shall  not  pass  over  it;  but  it  shall  be  for 
those:  the  wayfaring  men,  though  fools,  shall 
not  err  therein."  True,  these  promises  have 
reference  to  the  Jews ;  but  it  is  to  them  as  con- 
stituting a  prominent  part  of  the  Millennial 
church,  as  we  will  hereafter  show.  And  that 
the  holiness  of  those  days  will  be  of  an  ardent 
and  high-toned  character,  descending  into  every 
concern  and  common  act  of  life,  is  implied  in 
what  Zechariah  says,  14:20,21:  "In  that  day 
there  shall  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses, 
HOLINESS  UNTO  THE  LORD;  and  the  pots  in 
the  Lord's  house  shall  be  as  the  bowls  before 
the  altar;  yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and 
Judah  shall  be  holiness  to  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
We  need  scarcely  say  that  ther^  has  not  been 
any  period,  in  either  the  Jewish  or  christian 
churches,  to  which  the  preceding  predictions 
can  be  applied. 

3d.  It  will  be  a  period  of  universal  peace, 
and  undisturbed  tranquillity.  Then,  "shall  men 
beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their 
spears  into  pruning-hooks;  nation  shall  not  lift 
up  the  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they 
learn  war  any  more:"  Isa.  2:4.  And  in  chap. 
11:6 — 9,  the  same  prophet  says — "The  wolf 
shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  lie 
down  with  the  kid;  and  the  calf  and  the  young 
lion,  and  the  fatling  together;  and  a  little  child 
shall  lead  them.     And  the  cow  and  the  bear 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  173 

shall  feed;  their  young  shall  lie  down  together; 
and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox;  and 
the  sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the 
asp;  and  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand 
on  the  cockatrice-den:  they  shall  not  hurt  nor 
destroy  in  all  my  holy  mountain,  saith  the 
Lord."     See  also  Isa.  65:25. 

Whether  these  prophecies  and  promises  are 
to  be  understood  as  importing  that  the  savage 
beasts  will  then  be  divested  of  their  savage 
nature,  and  the  poisonous  reptiles  of  their  poi- 
soning qualities,  as  some  suppose;  or  only  that 
divine  grace  will  so  subdue  the  malignant  pas- 
sions of  the  human  heart,  that  there  will  be  no 
ill-will  of  one  towards  another,  but  mutual  be- 
nevolence and  beneficence,  as  is  the  more  pro- 
bable opinion  of  others:  we  may  boldly  say, 
that  no  such  period  has  passed  in  our  world, 
and  that  these  and  similar  passages  must  refer 
to  the  Millennial  age  of  the  church  and  of  the 
world.  The  figures  are  indeed  bold  and  strong; 
but  reduce  them  as  w^e  may,  without  taking 
away  all  meaning,  they  denote  a  time  of  unpre- 
cedented and  unexampled  love  and  peace. 

4th.  It  will  be  a  time  of  plenty,  or  of  great 
abundance  of  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of 
life.  The  following  passages  from  different 
prophets  will,  we  presume,  be  sufficient  on  this 
point.  Isa.  55:12,13:  ''For  ye  shall  go  out 
with  joy,  and  be  led  forth  with  peace;  the 
mountains  and  the  hills  shall  break  forth  be- 
fore you  into  singing,  and  all  the  trees  of  the 
field  shall  clap  their  hands.     Instead  of  the 


174  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  instead  of 
the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle-tree;  and  it 
shall  be  unto  the  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  ever- 
lasting sign  that  shall  not  be  cut  off."  Jer.  3:12: 
"Therefore  shalt  thou  come  and  sing  in  the 
height  of  Zion,  and  flow  together  to  the  good- 
ness of  the  Lord,  for  wheat,  for  wine,  and  for 
corn,  and  for  the  young  of  the  flock;  and  their 
soul  shall  be  as  a  watered  garden;  and  they 
shall  not  sorrow  any  more  at  all."  Ezekiel 
34:26:  "And  I  will  make  them,  and  the  place 
round  about  my  hill  a  blessing;  and  I  will  cause 
the  shower  to  come  down  in  his  season,  and 
there  shall  be  showers  of  blessings.  And  the 
tree  of  the  field  shall  yield  her  fruit,  and  the 
earth  shall  yield  her  increase."  Amos  9:13: 
"Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that 
the  ploughman  shall  overtake  the  reaper,  and 
the  treader  of  grapes  him  that  soweth  the 
seed,  and  the  mountains  shall  drop  sweet  wine, 
and  the  hills  melt."  Zech.  8:12:  "The  seed 
shall  be  prosperous,  the  vine  shall  give  her 
fruit,  and  the  ground  shall  give  her  increase, 
and  the  heavens  shall  give  their  dew,  and  I 
will  cause  the  remnant  of  this  people  to  pos- 
sess all  things."  To  which  we  add,  Mai.  3:10, 
which  includes  both  temporal  and  spiritual 
blessings:  "I  will  open  the  windows  of  heaven, 
and  pour  out  a  blessing,  that  there  will  not  be 
room  to  receive  it."  And  here  we  cannot  but 
consider  the  nuriierous  and  almost  daily  dis- 
coveries in  the  present  century,  in  the  useful 
arts  and  sciences,  especially  in  the  application 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  175 

of  the  almost  irresistible  power  of  steam,  as  so 
many  preparative  steps  in  the  providence  of 
God,  for  bestowing  that  temporal,  as  well  as 
spiritual  happiness,  which  he  hath  promised  in 
his  word  to  the  Millennial  age  of  the  church, 
and  of  the  world. 

5th.  Jehovah's  ancient  people,  the  Jews,  long 
"shut  up  in  unbelief,"  and  trampled  upon  by 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  will  be  converted  to 
"the  faith  in  Christ,"  and  form  a  very  promi- 
nent and  distinguished  part  of  the  Millennial 
church.  That  they  will  be  converted,  and  pro- 
bably at  the  beginning  of  the  Millennium,  is 
clearly  and  distinctly  foretold  by  Jer.  31 :3l-34: 
"Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I 
will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of 
Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah:  not  ac- 
cording to  the  covenant  which  I  made  with 
their  fathers,  when  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to 
lead  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt;  (which 
my  covenant  they  brake,  although  I  was  a  hus- 
band to  them,  saith  the  Lord.)  But  this  shall  be 
the  covenant  which  I  shall  make  with  the 
h©use  of  Israel:  After  those  days,  saith  the 
Lord,  T  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts, 
and  write  it  in  their  hearts;  and  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people."  We 
would  here  remark,  that  as  this  covenant  is  to 
be  made  with  the  house  of  Israel,  as  well  as  with 
the  house  of  Judah,  and  as  it  is  not  yet  clearly 
ascertained  where  the  Israehtes  are,  it  must 
therefore  be  future.  And  that  the  Jews  will  be 
highly  esteemed  in  those  days,  on  account  of 
16 


176  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

their  piety  and  distinguished  favor  with  God, 
is  evident  from  what  Zechariah  savs,  8:23: 
''Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  In  those  days  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  that  ten  men  shall  take  hold 
of  ail  languages  of  the  nations,  even  shall  take 
hold  of  the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying, 
We  will  go  with  you;  for  we  have  heard  that 
the  Lord  is  with  you."  And  it  is  to  the  Mil- 
lennial church,  especially  the  Jewish  portion  of 
it,  that  the  prophet  Isa.  62:1 — 4  speaks,  eitlier 
in  the  name,  or  as  a  type  of  Christ:  "For  Zion's 
sake  I  will  not  hold  my  peace,  and  for  Jeru- 
salem's sake  I  will  not  rest,  until  the  righteous- 
ness thereof  go  forth  as  hrightness,  and  the 
salvation  thereof  as  a  lamp  that  burneth. — 
And  the  Gentiles  shall  see  thy  righteousness, 
and  all  kings  thy  glory;  and  thou  shall  be 
called  by  a  new  name,  which  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord  shall  name.  Thou  shalt  also  be  a  crown 
of  glory  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  a  royal 
diadem  in  the  hand  of  thy  God.  Thou  shalt 
no  more  ho  termed  foj^saken;  neither  shall  thy 
land  be  any  more  desolaie;  but  thou  shalt  be 
called  Hephzihah^  and  thy  land  Bciilah:  for 
the  Lord  delighteth  in  thee,  and  thy  land  shall 
be  married."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  ob- 
serve, that  these  prophecies  and  promises  have 
not  been  fulfilled,  and  that  they  can  only  be 
fulfilled  at  the  era  of  the  Millennium. 

To  this  may  be  added,  that  it  would  seem 
from  sundry  declarations  of  the  prophets,  that 
Jerusalem  will  be  rebuilt  in  a  style  and  manner 
far  exceeding  her  ancient  splendor.     The  pro- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  177 

pliet  Isaiah,  in  cha}).  60:8 — 12,  imroduces  Je- 
hovah as  speaking  thus  to  his  ancient  people, 
the  Jews:  **Who  are  these  tliat  fly  as  a  cloud, 
and  as  doves  to  their  windows?  Surely  the 
isles  shall  wait  for  me,  and  the  ships  of  Tar- 
shish  first,  to  bring  thy  sons  from  far,  their  sil- 
ver and  their  gold  with  them,  unto  the  name 
of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  to  the  Holy  One 
of  Israel;  for  he  haih  gloritied  thee.  And  the 
sons  of  strangers  shall  build  up  thy  walls,  and 
their  kinos  shall  minister  unto  thee.  For  in 
my  wrath  I  smote  thee,  but  in  my  favor  have  I 
had  mercy  on  thee.  Therefore  thy  gates  shall 
be  open  continually;  they  shall  not  be  shut  day 
nor  night,  that  men  may  bring  unto  thee  the 
forces  of  the  Gentiles,  and  that  their  kings  may 
be  brought."  To  the  same  purport  it  is  said 
in  chap.  (51 :4 — 7,  "And  they  shall  build  the 
old  wastes,  the  desolations  of  many  genera- 
tions. And  stranf]jers  shall  stand  and  feed  thv 
flocks,  and  the  sons  of  the  alien  shall  bo  your 
ploughmen  and  vine-dressers.  But  ye  shall  be 
named  the  Priests  of  the  Lord ;  and  men  shall 
call  you  the  Ministers  of  our  God ;  for  ye 
shall  eat  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles,  and  in  their 
glory  shall  ye  boast  yourselves." 

From  a  prospective  view  of  this  blessed  and 
fast  approaching  era,  a  reflection  arises  that 
must  be  very  pleasing  to  every  philanthropic 
and  christian  heart.  It  is  this;  that  at  the 
winding  up  of  the  great  drama  of  this  world, 
it  will  be  found  that  thousands,  if  not  millions 
of  the  human  family  will  be  saved,  for  one  that 


178  THE    MILLENNIUM. 

is  lost.  This  will  be  evident  when  it  is  consid- 
ered that  the  population  of  this  world  began 
from  a  single  pair,  Adam  and  Eve;  and  from 
the  days  of  Noah,  from  three  pairs  of  parents 
only:  Gen.  9:19.  And  although  coundess  num- 
bers have  come  into  the  world  during  those 
two  periods,  and  the  far  greatest  number  of 
them  probably  lost,  it  is  yet  utterly  inconceiv- 
able how  many  will  come  into  it  during  the 
Millennium — a  period  of  a  thousand  years — 
and  which  will  commence  with  a  population  of 
eight  or  nine  hundred  millions,  and  two  or 
three  hundred  millions  of  these  will  be  parents. 
And  it  was  perhaps  in  a  prospective  view  of 
this  that  John,  when  speaking  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  heaven,  in  Rev.  7:9,  says — "I  beheld, 
and  lo  a  great  multitude,  ivJiich  no  man  could 
number,  standing  before  the  throne.'^  And 
that  the  ratio  of  the  increase  of  the  human 
family  will  then  be  very  great,  will  be  evident 
when  it  is  considered  that  wars,  and  luxury, 
and  intemperance,^  the  fruitful  parents  of  dis- 
ease and  death,  will  then  have  ceased,  and  the 
life  of  man  prolonged  to  an  hundred  years  at 
least.  It  is  to  this  last  circumstance  that  Isaiah 
refers  in  chap.  65:20:  "There  shall  bene  more 
thence  an  infant  of  days,  nor  an  old  man  that 
hath  not  filled  his  days;  for  the  child  shall  die 
an  hundred  years  old;  but  the  sinner,  being  an 

*  Does  not  the  present  and  extraordinary,  and  unexpected-  move- 
ment in  our  land  and  elsewhere,  in  regard  to  temperance,  and  total 
abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  indicate  that,  under  the 
providence  of  God,  some  great  moral  revolution  is  about  to  take 
place  in  our  wretched  world? 


THE    3IILLEIVNIU3I.  179 

hundred  years  old,  shall  be  accursed."     We 
confess  that  we  do  not  well  understand  the  last 
clause  of  this  verse.     To  understand  it  lite- 
rally, or  that  there  will  be  some  sinners  in  the 
Millennial  church,  will  not  comport  with  what 
the  prophet  says  elsewhere,  that  ''all  shall  be 
righteous,"  if  the  word  all  is  to  be  understood 
in  its  unlimited  sense.    It  may  mean  that,  as  a 
general  truth,  a  man  an  hundred  years  old,  dy- 
ing a  sinner,  will  be  accursed.  And  if  it  refers  to 
the  Millennial  period,  it  may  mean,  as  Dr.  Scott 
suggests,  "that  he  that  shall  die  at  the  age  of 
an  hundred  years,  shall  be  considered  as  dying 
in  his  youth,  as  a  punishment  for  his  sins." 
And  this  will  comport  with  his  being  saved;  for 
although  all  will  be  righteous,  yet  some  will 
be   less   righteous   than   others.     But  let  the 
meaning  of  that  clause  be  what  it  may,  we 
have  prediction  upon  prediction,  and  promise 
upon  promise,  that  very  gracious  and  glorious 
days  await  the  church,  long  despised  and  tram- 
pled upon  by  an  ungodly  world.     And  in  view 
of  those  days,  what  should  the  church  do  now? 
We  repeat  it — to  give  liberally,  and  do  cheer- 
fully, whatever  may  prepare  the  way  for  that 
blessed  era,  and  fervently  and  unceasingly  pray 
that  the  time  may  soon  come  when  "the  moun- 
tain of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in 
the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  exalted  above 
the  hills,  and  all  nations  flow  unto  it. — "Even 
so  come,  Lord  Jesus." 
16* 


APPENDIX, 


CONTAINING    AN 


INQUIRY  INTO  THE  PROPRIETY  OF  USING 


AN  EVANGELICAL  PSALMODY 


IN  THE  WORSHIP  OF  GOD. 


W 


"Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom; 
teaching-  and  admonishing  one  another  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and 
spiritual  songs." — Col.  3:16. 


BY 

SAMUEL    RALSTON,   D.  D. 


Published  for  the  author  by  Luke  Loomis,  Agent, — Pittsburgh. 

1841. 


APPENDIX. 


CHAPTER   I. 

HUMAN  INVENTIONS  AND  HU3IAN  COMPOSURE. 

The  reader  will  remember,  that  in  the  pre- 
ceding observations  on  the  prophecies  of  Dan- 
iel and  John,  we  occasionally  made  a  few 
strictures  on  Mr.  Reid's  book,  entided,  ^''The 
Seven  Last  Plagues^''''  and  that  we  intimated 
we  would  examine  some  charges  which  he 
has  brought  in  that  book  against  the  Protestant 
churches  of  the  present  day,  especially  those 
whom  he  calls  the  "large  and  popular  sects." 
Some  of  these  charges  are  altogether  gratuit- 
ous, and  some  of  them  made  in  support  of  the 
expositions  which  he  has  given  of  different  pass- 
ages of  the  Apocalypse,  and  especially  of  the 
seven  vials.  To  have  noticed  and  discussed 
them  as  they  occured,  would  have  broken  the 
thread  of  our  own  expositions;  and  we  thought 
it  best  to  defer  them  to  a  distinct  and  separate 
examination.  To  have  noticed  them  all,  would 
liave  been  to  transcribe  a  great  part  of  his  book. 
The  following  may  suffice: 

In  page  21  he  says,  "that  the  christian  world 
is,  at  this  moment,  a  mass  of  corruption;  that 


184 


APPENDIX, 


what  is  called  the  church  of  God,  is  no  other 
than  the  great  city,  which  is  spirituailv  called 
Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord  was 
crucified."  In  page  132  he  says— "The  wit- 
nesses have  always  contended  for  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Redeemer;  and  this  is  the  object 
against  which  the  enemy  has  directed  his  ar- 
tillery in  all  ages.  But,  in  this  age,  the  wit- 
nesses have  been  put  down  by  the  multiplicity 
of  human  forms  and  inventions  of  men,  which 
they  have  brought  into  the  worship  of  God.  It 
was  comparatively  easy  for  them  to  contend  for 
the  faith  of  the  gospel,  and  the  purity  of  wor- 
ship, against  the  palpable  errors  and  impurities 
of  the  lloman  church;  but  they  could  not  con- 
tend successfully  against  ten  thousand  inno- 
vations, of  almost  every  sect,  and  some  of  them 
so  much  resembling  the  truth,  that  few  could 
discern  the  difference." 

In  page  19,  speaking  of  the  dominant  reign  of 
Popery,  he  says^"Every  man  who  loved  the 
world  so  much  as  to  sacrifice  his  sense  of  duty 
to  his  regard  for  temporal  things,  always  re- 
ceived the  mark  of  the  beast.  But  the  very 
same  principle  operates,  at  this  time,  through 
the  whole  christian  world,  and  under  every 
form  of  civil  government." 

This,  we  presume,  is  enough  to  satisfy  the 
reader  in  regard  to  his  opinions  of  the  whole 
christian  world,  the  sect  with  which  he  is  con- 
nected, no  doubt  excepted.  And  indeed,  when 
speaking  of  the  witnesses,  he  frequently  throws 
out  no  obscure  hints,  that  himself  and  religious 


APPENDIX.  185 

friends,  if  not  the  whole,  yet  compose  a  promi- 
nent part  of  those  religious  worthies.     We  are 
not  now  inquiring  whether  his  views  of  the 
Apocalyptic  witnesses  be  right  or  wrong:  we 
are   only  presenting  his   views  of  the  whole 
christian  world,  with  the  exceptions  mentioned. 
Some  of  our  readers  may  be  ready  to  say, — 
if  all  the  christian  churches  are  such  "a  mass 
of  corruption,"  as  Mr.  Reid  says  they  are,  can 
we  suppose  that  God  would  pour  out  his  Spirit 
so  plentifully  as  he  has  done  in  years  past,  on 
various  branches,  and  as  flir  as  man  can  judge, 
turned  many  from  darkness  to  light,  and  bro't 
many  of  the  vilest  sinners  from  under  the  reign- 
ing influence  of  sin,satan,  and  the  world,  to  the 
knowledge  and  enjoyment  of  the  glorious  lib- 
erty of  the  children  of  God!    And  they  may  be 
ready  to  say  further, — surely  Mr.  Reid  has  not 
heard  of  those  revivals  of  religion;  for  if  he 
had,  he  could  not  possibly  speak  of  the  whole 
christian  world  as  he  has  done,  those  churches 
not  excepted.     But  he  has  heard  and  read  of 
them,  reader;  and  in  page  37  he  says,  "that 
convert-making,"  as  he  calls  it,  "has  become  a 
mere  mechanical  business, — a  work  of  art,  in 
which  the  convert-makers  arc  exceedingly  suc- 
successful;  that  while  they  trumpet  forth  their 
praises,  and  exhibit  the  evidences  of  their  vic- 
tory over  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  tliere  is  much 
reason  to  fear ^  that  like  the  converts  of  the 
Pharisees,  they  are  two-fold  more  the  children 
of  hell." — "That  the  numerous  proclamations 
of  religious  revivals, — the  immense  success  of 


386  APPENDIX. 

missionary  labors;  the  great  good  that  has  been 
done,  and  is  doing  by  Tract  societies,  &,c.  are 
the  great  words  which  the  horn  [the  Papal 
horn]  speaks  in  this  part  of  the  christian  world." 
In  a  word,  he  says  in  page  39 — ''they  are  pious 
frauds;"  "and  the  way  in  which  that  horn  now 
makes  war  against  the  saints,  and  prevails 
against  them." 

That  there  is,  sometimes,  something  wrong 
in  managing  revivals  of  religion,  is  not  improb- 
able; and  that  some  of  those  who  have  been 
deeply  affected,  and  reclaimed  from  their  evil 
ways,  have  lost  their  serious  impressions,  and 
returned  to  those  ways,  is  what  is  to  be  expect- 
ed from  what  Christ  tells  us  in  the  parable  of 
the  sower.  But  that  all  who  have  been  thus 
affected,  are  designing  hypocrites,  or  fanatical 
enthusiasts,  is  left  with  the"  reader  who  has  wit- 
nessed those  revivals  to  say.  We  are  persuad- 
ed that  3Ir.  Reid  does  not  speak,  as  he  does, 
from  his  own  personal  knowledge;  and  if  his 
report  and  representations  are  not  correct,  it  is 
left  with  himself  to  say  if  he  has  not  been  blas- 
pheming, or  speaking  injuriously  of  the  works 
and  ways  of  the  Holy  Ghost.^ 

But  admitting  that  these  things  are  pious 
frauds,  gross  hypocrisy,  or  fanatical  delusion, 

*  That  Ihere  were  religious  excitemenls  in  the  Northern  part 
of  the  state  of  New  York,  about  the  time  that  Mr.  Reid  wrote, 
and  that  those  excitements  were  accompanied  with  much  error, 
disorder  and  delusion,  we  are  not  disposed  to  conceal,  nor  yet  to 
condemn  Mr.  Reid  for  condemning-  such  things.  But  there  wag, 
about  the  same  time,  an  extensive  religious  excitement  in  the 
bounds  of  the  Synod  of  PJiiladelphia,  not  accompanied  with  such 
things,  and  which  was  inslrumentally  produced  by  the  preaching 


APPENDIX,  187 

the  reader  may  be  ready  to  ask,  will  not  the 
numerous  Bible  societies  of  the  Protestant 
churches  redeem  them  from  the  above  char- 
ges; and  are  they  not  an  evidence  that  they 
are  not  as  corrupted  as  the  church  of  Rome? 
No,  reader;  for  he  tells  us  in  page  133,  that 
ahhough  the  Bibles  sent  to  the  heathen,  may 
be  of  use  to  them  in  a  few  generations,  "they 
can  be  of  no  use  to  them  at  present."  Why? 
Because  ihey  have  sent  them  without  note  or 
comment,  and  without  a  living  interpreter. — 
And  in  defence  of  his  opinion,  he  has  virtu- 
ally adopted  and  defended  the  doctrine  of  the 
church  of  Rome — "that  the  Scriptures  are  of 
little  benefit,  unless  they  are  accompanied  with 
the  testimony  of  the  church:"  page  134.  But 
it  may  be  rephed,  have  not  missionaries,  or  liv- 
ing interpreters,  been  sent  to  the  heathen  with 
the  word  of  God?  But  Mr.  Reid  tells  us  that 
they  are  all  corrupt,  "and  it  is  impossible  that 
they  should  establish  a  purer  religion  than  they 
have  themselves;"  "and  a  corrupted  Gospel  is 
generally  circulated  through  the  world,  instead 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  The  christian  who 
is  daily  praying,  "that  the  heathen  may  be 
speedily  given  to  Christ  for  an  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a  posses- 
sion," may  be  ready  to  say,  Alas,  for  the  poor 

of  the  doctrines  contained  in  tlie  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith. 
It  is  presumed  that  Mr.  Reid  has  heard  of  this;  but  he  makes  no 
discrimination,  but  passed  the  sentence  of  condemnation  and  repro- 
bation equally  on  both.  Tliis,  we  think,  was  at  tlie  same  time 
rash,  unjust  and  dangerous,  as  it  regarded  himself.  We  hope  that 
he  has  seen  his  error;  and  if  not,  that  he  will  live  to  see  and  ac- 
knowledge it. 

17 


188  APPENDIX. 

heathen!  and  is  there  no  hope  for  them,  ''for 
some  generations  to  come,"  notwithstanding 
the  miglity  efforts  that  have  been  made  to  send 
them  the  word  of  truth  and  of  life?  None, 
christian,  if  the  above  things  are  true,  unless 
Mr.  Reid,  and  those  who  may  be  hke-minded 
with  himself  on  this  subject,  will  go  and  explain 
the  word  to  them.  We  do  not  know,  at  least 
we  have  not  heard,  that  they  intend  to  do  so; 
but  as  it  seems  that  they,  and  they  alone,  un- 
derstand the  mind  of  the  Spirit  in  his  word, 
compassion  for  the  perishing  heathen  should 
induce  them  to  go  to  them,  forthwith,  and  not 
suffer  the  Scriptures  to  be  a  dead  letter  for 
some  generations.  To  be  serious,  it  is  painful 
and  deplorable,  to  hear  a  minister  of  a  church 
that  claims  the  highest  grade  of  reformation, 
objecting  to,  and  trying  to  pour  contempt  on  all 
the  efforts  of  the  day,  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen  world,  and  to  hold  out  all  tlie  Protest- 
ant churches  as,  in  some  respects,  worse  than 
the  church  of  Rome.  And  what  is  still  worse, 
and  more  to  be  deplored,  representing  as  delu- 
sion, or  fraudful  hypocrisy,  what  thousands  have 
felt,  and  do  feel,  as  the  sanctifying  Spirit  of 
Christ  on  their  hearts. 

But  as  there  always  is  a  cause  of  corruption, 
when  a  church  or  churches  become  corrupt, 
what  cause  does  Mr.  Reid  assign  for  such  a 
general  corruption  in  all  Protestant  churches, 
his  own,  doubtless,  excepted — "Human  inven- 
tions in  the  worship  of  God."  And  there  is 
scarcely  a  page  in  his  book  where  he  does  not 


APPENDIX.  189 

harp  upon  this  string.     We  do  not  blame,  but 
rather  commend  him  for  doing  so,  provided  the 
charge  is  well  founded:  and  the  churcli  cannot 
be  pure,  nor  expect  that  the  dews  of  divine 
grace  will  descend  upon  her,  while  she  wor- 
ships God  in  any  other  way  than  that  appointed 
in  his  word.     But  what  are  those  inventions? 
The  one  which  we  purpose  to  inquire  into  at 
present,  and  the  one  which   he  mentions  with 
most  frequency,  is,  singing   what   are   called 
hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,  in  the  public  wor- 
ship of  God.     And  indeed,  from  the  particular 
mark  of  reprobation  with  which  he  mentions 
it,  one  would  think  that  he  considers  it  as  more 
criminal   than   any,  or. all  the  errors,  of  the 
church  of  Rome.     The  reader  will  remember, 
that  according  to  Mr.  Reid's  interpretation  of 
the  seven  vials,  the  sixth  vial  is  to  be  poured 
out  on  those  who  use  those  inventions;  and 
doubtless  the  singers  of  hymns  and  spu-itual 
songs  will  have  the  largest  share. 

In  order  to  ascertain  w^hether  singing  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs^in  divine  worship,  "is  a  hu- 
man invention,"  it  will  be  necessary  to  inquire 
into  the  precise  and  real  meaning  of  the  w^ords; 
for  many  impose  upon  themselves  by  attaching 
a  meaning  to  w^ords,  which,  upon  strict  inquiry, 
they  find  does  not  belong  to  those  words.  This 
arises  from  various  causes.  Sometimes,  from 
the  prejudice  of  education,  and  an  implicit  re- 
liance on  the  opinions  of  those  whom  we  may 
respect  for  their  learning  and  knowledge;  and 
sometimes,  from  a  culpable  indolence  of  mind, 


190  APPENDIX. 

that  will  not  be  at  the  trouble  of  inquh'ing  into 
the  real  meaning  of  those  very  words  that  may 
be  the  signs  and  symbols  of  our  religious  creed. 
We  confess  that  we  have  been  thus  culpable; 
and  it  was  not  until  we  happened  to  ask  our- 
selves, what  is  the  real  meaning  of  those  two 
words — '4iuman   inventions," — which    are   so 
much  used  in  the  controversy  on  Psalmody, 
that  we  were  led  to  change  our  opinion  and 
practice  on  this  subject.     And  it  may  be  that 
some  who  may  read  this  page,  have  been  as 
blameable,  in  this  respect,  as  we  have  been. 
To  apply  the  above  observations  to  the  point 
in  hand,  we  would   observe,   that  when  any 
thing  good  or  praiseworthy  takes  place  among 
men,  or  when  any   very  useful  discovery  is 
made  in  the  arts  or  sciences,  it  is  not  unusual 
to  celebrate  such  things,  with  their  authors  or 
inventors,  in  hymns  or  songs,.  a&-well  as  in  prose. 
Such  hymns  or  songs  are,  strictly  and  literally, 
human;  because  human  concerns,  and  human 
inventions,  is  their  subject  matter.     But  let  di- 
vine things,  or  the  character  and  perfections  of 
God,  as  developed  in  the  Scriptures,  in  the 
works  of  creation.  Providence  or  grace,  be  the 
subject  matter;  then,  there  cannot  be  a  grosser 
perversion  of  the  established  meaning  of  words, 
than  to  call  such  hymns  or  songs,  "human  in- 
ventions."    We  are  not  now  inquiring  if  it  be 
lawful  to  use  hymns  in  the  public  worship  of 
God,  but  into  the  real  meaning  of  the  hack- 
neyed and   perverted   words^ — "human  inven- 
tions."    We  have  deemed  this  the  more  neces- 


APPENDIX.  191 

sary,  because  a  darkening,  terrifying,  and  dele- 
terious atmosphere  has  been  thrown  around  the 
subject  of  Psalmody  by  Mr.  Reid  and  others, 
by  those  sophistical  words;  and  because  many 
serious  and  well-meaning  persons  have  been 
estranged  from  others,  as  serious  and  well- 
meaning  as  themselves,  but  who  suig  hymns  in 
the  worship  of  God,  by  being  told  by  their  pas- 
tors that  such  use  '*human  inventions"  in  the 
worship  of  God.  But  it  does  not  require  acute 
logical  powers,  nor  any  complex  logical  pro- 
cess, but  the  mere  exercise  of  plain  common 
sense,  to  detect  this  miserable,  and  we  must 
add,  wicked  and  injurious  sophistry.  It  is  but 
to  ask  themselves  if  the  plan  of  redemption, 
through  Christ,  was  a  human  or  divine  inven- 
tion. As  the  invention  and  application  of  that 
glorious  and  gracious  plan  was  altogether  di- 
vine, then,  we  repeat  it,  nothing  can  be  more 
preposterous,  than  to  call  hymns,  which  cele- 
brate the  wisdom,  love,  mercy  and  grace  of 
that  plan,  human  inventions;  and  nothing  can 
be  more  uncandid  and  unjust,  than  to  charge 
those  who  sing  such  hymns,  "with  using  human 
inventions  in  the  worship  of  God." 

There  are  two  other  words — ''human  com- 
posure"— which  are  often  used  in  connection 
with  "human  inventions,"  on  the  subject  of 
Psalmody,  the  real  meaning  of  which  it  may  be 
also  necessary  to  ascertain,  in  order  to  think  and 
reason  understandingly  on  the  subject.  "Hu- 
man composure,"  properly  speaking,  is  some- 
thing, whether  in  prose  or  verse,  composed  by 
17^ 


192  APPENDIX. 

men,  the  subject  matter  of  which  is,  human 
views,  wishes,  concerns,  or  interests.  For  the 
reasons  already  assigned,  it  is  not  proper  to  call 
a  poem,  the  ground  and  substance  of  which  is 
some  doctrine,  precept,  promise,  &.c.  in  the 
word  of  God,  "a  human  composure,"  as  it  is 
usually  expressed.  As  already  observed,  it  is 
the  subject  matter  of  any  composition,  in  prose 
or  in  verse,  that  gives  it  its  distinctive  character. 
If  the  subject  matter  relates  only  to  human 
views,  interests,  and  concerns,  it  is  merely  and 
properly  human;  but,  as  just  now  said,  if  it  is 
founded  upon  some  of  the  glorious  and  gra- 
cious truths  contained  in  the  word  of  God,  it 
is  divine;  for,  let  me  repeat  it,  it  is  not  the  cir- 
cumstance of  its  being  at'ranged  and  written 
by  a  man,  that  makes  it  a  human  or  divine  com- 
position, but  what  it  contains.  And  if  it  is  un- 
lawful to  use  in  the  public  worship  of  God,  a 
hymn  or  song  written  by  man,  provided  it  is 
founded  upon,  and  agreeable  to  his  word,  then, 
Mr.  Reid's  lectures,  sermons  and  prayers,  are 
all  unlawful;  for  although  they  may  be  agree- 
able to,  and  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  yet 
the  language  and  arrangement  are  his  own. 

And  not  only  is  this  the  case,  but  every 
translation  of  the  scriptures  is  ''human  compo- 
sure," and  consequently  it  is  unlawful  to  use  or 
read  them  in  the  public  worship  of  God ;  for 
there  is  no  language,  the  idiom  of  which  ex- 
actly corresponds  with  the  idiom  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments.  The  paraphrase  must 
therefore  be  resorted  to,  to  render  the  meaning 


APPENDIX.  193 

of  some  words  or  passages  more  clear  and 
full,  and  hence  the  number  o^  italic  characters 
in  our  own  translation,  as  every  reader  must 
have  observed.  The  principal  object  of  all  who 
versify  any  portion  of  the  scriptures,  ought 
to  be,  to  preserve  the  meaning  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  speaking  in  the  scriptures;  and  although 
adhering  to  the  literal  exprCvSsions,  as  far  as 
possible,  is  always  safest  and  best,  yet  if  the 
meaning  is  preserved,  it  is  not  correct  to  call 
such  a  poem  "human  composure,"  although  it 
may  partake  of  the  paraphrases. 

But  further:  If  Mr.  Ileid  explains  the  psalms 
to  his  congregation,  before  they  sing  them,  as 
has  been  the  case  in  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church;  and  where  he  meets  with  a  typical 
expression,  tells  them,  that  to  "sing  with  the 
understanding,"  they  must  not  use  that  word 
in  its  literal,  but  spiritual  meaning;  do  not  he 
and  they  virtually  use  what  he  calls  "human 
composure,"  in  the  worship  of  God?  We  will 
state  a  case,  which  doubtless  has  often  occur- 
red to  Mr.  Reid  and  his  brethren.  Suppose 
Mr.  Reid  selects  the  66th  Psalm,  and  when  he 
comes  to  that  verse, — "I  will  offer  unto  thee 
(God)  burnt  sacrifices  of  failings,  with  the 
incense  of  rams;  I  will  offer  bullocks  with 
goats;"  he  will  doubtless  tell  them,  that  al- 
though it  was  the  duty  of  the  Jews  to  do  so, 
as  the  way  in  which  Jehovah  himself  required 
to  be  worshiped  under  that  dispensation;  yet 
as  the  blood  of  those  animals, when  shed  in 
sacrifice,  was  typical  of  the  blood  of  Christ, 


194  APPENDIX. 

which  alone  can  remove  the  guilt  of  sin,  they 
must  look  through  the  type  to  that  blood  for 
acceptance  with  God.  We  repeat  it,  is  not 
this  virtually  singing  what  he  calls  "human 
composure,"  in  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary? 
xA.nd  suppose,  that  in  proof  of  his  doctrine,  and 
for  their  direction,  he  quotes,  or  refers  them  to 
the  following  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, 10:19 — 22:  "Having  therefore,  breth- 
ren, boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the 
blood  of  Jesiis^  by  a  new  and  living  way, 
whicli  he  hath  consecrated  for  us  through  the 
vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh ;  and  having  an 
high  priest  over  the  house  of  God;  let  us  draw 
near  with  a  true  heart  in  full  assurance  of  faith, 
having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  con- 
science, and  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  wa- 
ter." We  ask  again,  if  he  and  they  do  not 
virtually  sing  this  passage;  and  if  it  would  not 
tend  as  much,  if  not  more  to  their  edification, 
to  sing  this  passage  correctly  versified,  as  the 
66th,  or  any  similar  Psalm? 

But  Mr.  Reid  tells  us,  that  we  have  no  au- 
thority to  use,  in  the  praises  of  God,  any  part 
of  scripture  but  the  book  of  Psalms.  If  this  is- 
indeed  the  case,  it  renders  the  preceding  obser- 
vations nugatory:  we  will,  however,  examine 
that  hypothesis  m  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 

SOXGS    OF    PRAISE    IN    THE    REVELATION    OF 

JOHN. 

We  intimated  in  the  last  chapter,  that  we 
would,  in  this,  inquire  if  the  church  under  the 
present  dispensation  is  warranted  to  draw  her 
songs  of  praise  to  God,  from  the  New,  as  well 
as  from  the  Old  Testament.  Mr.  Reid  affirms 
that  we  are  to  use  the  book  of  Psalms  only; 
and  in  page  202  he  says,  "that  it  is  sinful  to 
versify  other  portions  of  the  scriptures,  to  be 
sung  in  the  churches,  because  they  were  not 
designed  for  this  use."  We  think,  however, 
that  we  have  both  precept  and  precedent  for 
doing  so,  and  that  our  songs  of  praise  are  to 
be  drawm  from  the  New  Testament  in  an  es- 
pecial manner.  In  Coloss.  3:16,  17,  we  have 
the  following  precept  or  command:  "Let  the 
word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wis- 
dom; teaching  and  admonishing  one  another 
in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,  sing- 
ing with  grace  in  your  hearts  to  the  Lord. 
And  whatsoever  ye  do  in  word  or  deed,  do  all 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks 
to  God  and  the  Father  by  him."  No  precept 
can  be  clearer,  or  fuller  to  the  point  thari  this ; 
or  that  we  are  to  draw  our  songs  of  praise  to 


i96  APPENDIX. 

God  from  "the  word  of  Christ,"  or  the  New 
Testament  scriptures.  But  it  is  said  that  "the 
word  of  Christ"  means  the  same  thing  as  "the 
word  of  God,"  or  the  whole  of  the  scriptures. 
Be  it  so — ^and  it  proves  all  that  we  desire  to 
prove.  And  yet  we  hesitate  not  to  say,  that 
there  is  not  a  man,  whose  mind  can  rise  above 
the  prejudice  of  education,  and  think  and  judge 
for  himself,  or  who  has  not  in  view  the  support 
of  a  sinking  cause,  would  give  these  words  that 
interpretation,  but  understand  by  them,  the  New 
Testament  exclusively.  But  as  the  precept  or 
command  for  a  gospel  psalmody  has  been  suc- 
cessfully argued,  from  the  foregoing  passage, 
by  Latta,  Baird,  and  others,  we  will  pass  on  to 
the  precedents,  or  examples. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Luke,  we  have  two 
songs  of  praise  to  God,  one  by  Mary,  the  mo- 
ther of  Jesus,  and  the  other  by  Zacharias,  the 
father  of  John  the  Baptist,  but  which  are  not 
in  the  book  of  Psalms.  If  it  is  objected,  that 
these  songs  were  sung  by  individuals  only,  and 
not  by  the  church,  the  objection  will  cut  off  the 
greatest  number  of  David's  psalms,  as  unfit  for 
general  use;  for  they  were  composed  with  re- 
ference to  his  own  individual  situation,  whe- 
ther in  trouble  or  in  joy. 

But  there  are,  in  the  book  of  the  Revela- 
tion, (that  book  which,  it  is  to  be  presumed, 
Mr.  Reid  has  examined  with  particular  care,) 
three  songs  of  praise  to  God,  the  first  of  which 
has  been  sung  by  the  church;  the  second, 
most  probably ;  and  the  third  will  certainly  be 


APPENDIX.  197 

sung;  and  which,  he  will  not  pretend  to  say, 
are  in  tlie  book  of  Psalms.     We  have  shown, 
in  the  3d  chapter,  that  the  dragon  mentioned 
in  the  12th  chapter  of  the  Revelation,  was  a 
symbol  of  the  Roman  empire  in  its  pagan  state, 
and  which  wasted   the  church  by  ten  severe 
persecutions,  the  last  of  which,  under  the  Em- 
peror Dioclesian,  continued  for  ten  years, — 
When  CoNSTANTiNE  THE  Great  mouutcd  the 
imperial  tlirone,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century,  the  wasted  and   worn-out  christians 
were  not  only  rescued   from  their  implacable 
enemies,  but  paganism    was    put   down,    and 
Christianity  established  by  law,  as  the  religion 
of  the  empire.     It  was  to  be  expected,  tliat  the 
remaining  christians  would  express  their  grati- 
tude to  the  Head  of  the  church,  for  their  great 
and  gracious  deliverance,  in  a  song  of  praise 
suited  to  the  occasion,  and  to  the  character  of 
their  deliverer.    And  they  did  so;  and  we  have 
the  burden,  or  substance  of  the  song,  in  the 
10th,  11th  and  12th  verses: — "And  I  heard  a 
loud  voice  saying  in  heaven,  (or  the  church,) 
Now  is  come  salvation,  and  strength,  and  the 
kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his 
Christ;  for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast 
down,  which  accused  them  before  our  God  day 
and  night.     And  they  overcame   him   hy  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their 
testimony;  and  they  loved  not  their  lives  unto 
the  death.    Therefore  rejoice,  ye  heavens,  and 
ve  that  dwell  in  them.     Wo  to  the  inhabiters 
of  the  earth,  and  of  the  sea!  for  the  devil  is 


198 


APPEIVDIX. 


come  down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath,  be- 
cause he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short 
time." 

Let  it  here  be  observed,  that  it  is  not  Jeho- 
vah, as  the  God  of  IsraeJ,  or  the  Head  of  the 
church  under  that  dispensation,  who  is  here 
praised, — and  as  is  the  case  in  the  book  of 
Psalms,— but  Christ,  "the  Lamb  of  God,  who 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the   world,"  and   by 
whose  '-blood;''  the  christians  of  those  days 
overcame  their  unrelenting  enemies.  Mr.  Baird 
has  proved,  from  undoubted  ecclesiastical  au- 
tliority,  that   hymns    to   the  honor  of  Christ, 
^yere  generally  used  in  the  church  at  that  pe- 
riod.    This,  Mr.  Reid  considers  as  a  matter 
not  worthy  of  notice,  and  of  no  weight  in  this 
discussion.     Not  so,  however,  with  ourselves. 
It  is  a  confirmation  that  the  prediction  in  the 
above  passage  has  been  Hterally  fulfilled ;  and 
is,  moreover,  a  proof  that  we  are  authorized  to 
draw  our  songs  of  praise  to  Christ,  from  those 
passages  in  the  New  Testament  which  exhibit 
the  Redeemer  as  "the  La?iib  of  God,"  and  re- 
deeming his  people  by  his  blood.     There  is  no 
passage  in  all  the  book  of  Psalms,  that  speaks 
of  him  as  such. 

Again:  we  are  told  in  the  L5th  chapter,  that 
when  the  seven  vials  of  the  wrath  of  God 
were  about  to  be  poured  out  on  papal  Rome, 
which  had  wasted  the  saints  for  one  thousand' 
two  hundred  and  sixty  years,  the  people  of 
God  sung  a  song,  and  a  new  song  of  praise  to 
iheir  almighty  and  gracious  deliverer:  "I  saw," 


APPENDIX.  199 

says  the  prophet,  "a  sea  of  glass  mingled  with 
fire,  and  them  that  had  gotten  the  victory  over 
the  beast,  and  over  his  image,  and  over  the 
number  of  his  name,  standing  on  the  sea  of 
glass,  having  the  harps  of  God,  and  they  sung 
the  song  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  and  of 
the  Lamb,  saying.  Great  and  marvellous  are 
thy  works.  Lord  God  Almighty;  just  and  true 
are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints.  Who  shall 
not  fear  thee,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  thy  name? 
For  thou  art  holy;  for  all  nations  shall  come 
and  worship  before  thee;  for  thy  judgments  are 
made  manifest." 

Mr.  Reid  thinks,  that  these  vials  have  not 
been  poured  as  yet,  and  consequently  the  song 
has  not  been  sung.  The  reader  need  not  be 
told  that  we  think  that  five  of  these  vials  have 
been  poured  out  on  the  Popish  countries,  and 
that  the  sixth  is  now  pouring  out  on  the  Turk- 
ish empire,  or  on  Mahometanism,  the  unrelent- 
ing enemy  of  the  church  of  God  in  the  East, 
as  Popery  has  been  in  the  West.  But  whether 
his  interpretation,  or  ours,  is  the  true  one, 
affects  not  our  present  argument;  for  if  none 
of  these  vials  have  been  poured  out,  the  above 
song,  however,  will  be  sung  when  those  facts 
take  place.  * 

Mr.  Reid  says,  in  page  206,  "that  this  new 
song  is  the  old  song  which  God  made  for  the 
church,  as  he  made  the  commandments:  in  one 
sense  it  is  old,  and  in  another  it  is  new."  Well, 
if  it  is  one  of  the  songs  in  the  book  of  Psalms, 
it  will  not  be  difficult  to  find  it  there;  but,  as 
18 


200  APPENDIX. 

already  observed,  the  object  of  worship  is  no 
where  designated  in  that  book,  as  the  "Lamb," 
and  "the  Lamb  of  God."  Besides,  the  com- 
mandments, as  a  transcript  of  the  moral  char- 
acter of  Jehovali,  were,  and  are  invariably  the 
same,  although  enforced  by  new  motives  and 
arguments,  under  the  present  dispensation  of 
grace,  but  in  this  song,  the  object  of  worship 
as  "the  Lamb,"  is  new,  and  the  occasion  of 
worship  new — the  deliverance  of  his  church 
from  a  persecution  of  twelve  hundred  and 
sixty  years. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  what  are  we  to  under- 
stand by  the  "harps  of  God,"  which  accom- 
panied the  singing  of  this  song?  The  harp 
produces  a  sweet  and  melodious  music;  was 
the  symbol  of  holy  joy  and  gratitude.  Psalm 
33:L/2;  and  as  used  in  the  service  of  the  Jew- 
ish temple,  was  expressive  of  the  melody  of 
grace  in  the  heart.  This  we  deduce  from 
what  the  Apostle  says  on  this  subject  in  Ephe- 
sians  5:19,  and  Colossians  3:16.  In  the  first 
of  these  passages  he  says — "speaking  to  your- 
selves in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs, 
singing  and  making  melody  in  your  hearts  to 
the  Lord."  And  in  the  second  he  tells  us  what 
this  melody  consisted  in:  "Let  the  word  of 
Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom,  teach- 
ing and  admonishing  one  another  in  psalms, 
and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs;  singing  with 
grace  in  your  hearts  to  the  Lord." 

"The  harps  of  God,"  then,  denoted  gracious 
affections  in  singing  this  song,  and  not  the  kind 


APPENDIX.  201 

of  the  song  itself,  as  Mr.  Reid  affirms;  for  its 
being  called  "the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb," 
is  what  determines  its  kind  and  character. — 
But  why  is  it  called  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb?  A  consideration  of  the  occasion  on 
which  it  was  sung,  will,  we  think,  answer  the 
question.  As  already  observed,  it  was  sung  on 
occasion  of  the  most  notable  deliverance  which 
the  church  of  God  had  as  yet  experienced,  and 
was  prefigured  by  another  notable  deliverance 
of  the  church  also,  in  the  days,  and  by  the  in- 
strumentality of  Moses,  and  which  was  cele- 
brated by  a  similar  song  of  praise  and  grati- 
tude. The  song  composed  by  Moses,  and  sung 
by  him  and  the  children  of  Israel  at  the  Red 
sea,  is  undoubtedly  the  very  song  alluded  to, 
and  not  the  song  recorded  in  the  23d  chapter 
of  Deuteronomy,  as  Mr.  Reid  says  was  the 
fact.  For  in  this  last  song  there  is  no  allusion 
to  any  particular  deliverance,  but  an  account 
of  Jehovah's  kindness  to  the  Israehtes,  and 
their  base  ingratitude.  But  when  we  compare 
the  song  sung  at  the  Red  sea,  and  which  is  re- 
corded in  the  15th  chapter  of  Exodus,  and  the 
song  recorded  in  the  15th  chapter  of  the  Rev- 
elation, the  analogy  is  so  obvious  and  striking, 
in  regard  to  the  greatness  of  the  deliverance, 
that  we  see  the  reason  why  that  song  was  call- 
ed the  song  of  Moses,  and  of  the  Lamb,  In 
the  one,  Jehovah  not  only  delivered  his  church 
and  people  from  the  persecuting  power  of  Pha- 
raoh and  his  Egyptians,  but  destroyed  their 
implacable  enemies;  and  in  the  other,  he  has 


202  APPENDIX. 

not  only  delivered  his  church  from  that  power 
that  had  wasted  her  for  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  years,  but  has  poured  out,  and 
will  pour  out,  the  vials  of  his  wrath  upon  it, 
until  it  is  utterly  destroyed.  In  the  one,  the 
delivered  sung  the  praises  of  their  great  deliv- 
erer, saying,  "Thy  right  hand,  O  Lord,  is  be- 
conrje  glorious  in  power;  thy  right  hand,  O 
Lord,  hath  dashed  in  pieces  the  enemy:"  and 
in  the  other,  the  delivered  are  represented  as 
singing — "Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works, 
Lord  God  Almighty ;  just  and  true  are  thy 
ways,  thou  King  of  saints."  And  yet,  Mr. 
Reid  tells  us  in  page  252,  "that  these  words 
are  only  an  exclamation,  and  not  part  of  a  song 
of  praise."  Is  the  66th  Psalm  a  song  of  praise? 
And  if  so,  as  he  must  acknowledge,  what  are 
these  words  in  that  psalm? — "Say  unto  God, 
how  terrible  art  thou  in  thy  works!  through 
the  greatness  of  thy  power  shall  thy  enemies 
submit  unto  thee."  And,  what  the  following 
words,  in  the  31st  Psalm? — "O,  how  great  is 
thy  goodness,  which  thou  hast  laid  up  for  them 
that  fear  thee;  which  thou  hast  wrought  for 
them  that  trust  in  thee  before  the  sons  of  men!" 
These  passages  are  surely  very  much  alike; 
and  if  the  words,  in  Rev.  15:3,  are  only  an 
exclamation,  so  are  the  others.  Perhaps  a 
stronger  evidence  of  the  deleterious  effects  of 
prepossession,  and  attachment  to  a  sect,  can 
scarcely  be  produced,  than  Mr.  Reid's  objec- 
tion to  Rev.  15:3,  being  a  song  of  praise  to 
God.    He  saw,  that  to  admit  that  the  words, 


APPENDIX. 


203 


"Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works,  Lord 
God  Almighty,"  were  a  part  of  the  song  of 
Moses,  and  of  the  Lamb,  would  establish  the 
position,  as  it  does,  that  the  church  either  has, 
or  will  sing  songs  of  praise  to  God  that  are  not 
in  the  book  of  Psalms.  Hence  then,  as  the 
only  resource,  he  boldly  denies  that  they  are 
part  of  that  song  at  all,  but  some  sudden  ex- 
clamation unconnected  with  praise  and  thanks 
giving,  which  they  wished  to  render  to  their 
great  and  gracious  Deliverer. 

We  will  add  only  on  this  point,  that  had  the 
churches  of  the  reformation  used  the  book 
of  Psalms  only,  until  this  day,  we  would  not 
have  had  any  evidence  that  they  are  delivered 
from  the  dominant  power  of  the  man  of  sin, 
as  there  is  no  Psalm  in  that  collection  that  can 
be  called  "the  song  of  Moses,  and  of  the 
Lamb."  Mr.  Reid  laments  that  hymns,  or  ver- 
sified portions  of  the  Scriptures,  have  been  gen- 
erally used  in  the  Protestant  churches,  within 
the  last  hundred  years,  and  assigns  it  as  the 
principal  cause  why  they  are  such  a  mass  of 
moral  corruption,  as  he  says  they  are.  To 
ourselves,  however,  it  is  a  matter  of  joy  and 
thanksgiving,  as  we  have  thereby  evidence, 
that  the  predictions  connected  with  the  pouring 
out  of  the  vials,  have  been  fulfilled.  Many  of 
the  hymns  of  Dr.  Watts,  especially  the  65th 
hymn  of  the  1st  book,  are  express  to  the  point, 
and  have  been  sung,  and  will  be  sung,  by  all 
who  have  scriptural  views  of  "the  signs  of  the 
times."  True,  he  has  been  held  out  by  Mr. 
1.8* 


*204  APPENDIX. 

Reid,  and  others,  as  a  vile  heretic,  and  people 
cautioned  from  the  pulpit,  and  from  the  press, 
not  even  to  read,  much  less  to  sing  them,  on 
account  of  the  errors  which  they  contain ;  and 
yet  we  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  one  sin- 
gle error  of  any  consequence,  that  has  been 
established.     Had  such  sentiments  as  the  fol- 
lowing, in  Mr.  Reid's  book,  page  279,  dropped 
from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Watts,  what  "a  hue  and 
cry"  of  heresy  would  we  have  had ;  and  what 
denunciations  against  the  Presbyterian  church 
for  using  what  are  called  his  psalms  and  hymns. 
"God  has  given  us  the  faculty  of  conscience, 
or  the  moral  sense,  by  which  we  are  enabled  to 
discern  between  good  and  evil.     By  the  culti- 
vation and   improvement   of  this  faculty,  we 
niigJit  he  able  to  discern  the  slightest  shade 
of  moral  darkness^  which  the  god  of  this 
world  might  attempt  to  bring  over  our  minds. 
We   should    know   the   spiritual   meaning   of 
God's  holy  law,  and  be  able  to  perceive  the 
least  degree  of  any  evil  disposition^  as  soon  as 
it  was  introduced  to  our  minds." 

As  there  is  not  the  least  reference  in  this 
passage,  nor  yet  in  the  context,  to  the  necessity 
of  the  illuminating  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  for  the  purification  and  direction  of  the 
conscience,  the  intelligent  reader  will  see  that 
it  is  Arminianism  of  the  rankest  kind.  Not- 
withstanding the  Apostle  says,  "the  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God;  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they 
are  spiritually  discerned ;"  and  notwithstanding 


APPENDIX.  205 

he  says  further,  that  to  "the  defiled  and  unbe- 
lieving is  nothing  pure,  but  even  their  mind  and 
conscience  is  defiled ;"  yet  Mr.  Reid  says,  "that 
by  the  cuhivation  and  improvement  of  con- 
science, we  may  be  able  to  discern  the  slightest 
shade  of  moral  darkness,  and  the  spiritual 
meaning  of  God's  holy  law,  and  the  least  de- 
gree of  any  evil  disposition,  as  soon  as  it  is  in- 
troduced to  our  minds."  We  hope  that  after 
this,  we  will  not  hear  any  thing  more  from  Mr. 
Reid  of  the  heterodoxy  of  Dr.  Watts,  and  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  because  they  use  his 
psalms  and  hymns.  Indeed,  if  Mr.  Reid's  ex- 
planations of  the  Psalms  are  in  unison  with  the 
doctrines  taught  in  the  above  quotation,  we 
cannot  but  pity  those  who  are  contented  to  sing 
those  explanations. 

But  again:  In  the  19th  chapter  we  have  an- 
other song  of  praise,  which  shall  be  sung  by 
the  church,  when  its  Head  shall  have  emptied 
the  last  vial  on  all  his  and  her  enemies:  "And 
after  these  things  I  heard  a  great  noise  of  much 
peoj)le  in  heaven,  (or  the  church,)  saying,  Al- 
leluia: salvation,  and  glory,  and  honor,  and 
power,  uiito  the  Lord  our  God ;  for  true  and 
righteous  are  his  judgments;  for  he  hath  judged 
the  great  mhore^  which  did  corrupt  the  earth 
with  lier  fornication,  and  hath  avenged  the 
blood  of  his  servants  at  her  hand.  And  again 
they  said.  Alleluia.  And  her  smoke  rose  up  for 
ever  and  ever.  And  a  voice  came  out  of  the 
throne,  saying.  Praise  our  God,  all  ye  his  ser- 
vants, and  ye  that  fear  him,  both  small  and 


206  APPENDIX. 

great.  And  I  heard,  as  it  were,  the  voice  of  a 
great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many  wa- 
ters, and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings, 
saying.  Alleluia:  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth.  Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give 
honor  to  him ;  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is 
come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready." 

Although  there  is  some  narrative  in  the 
above  passage,  yet  Mr.  Reid  himself  must  ac- 
knowledge, that  there  is  in  it  a  song  of  praise 
which  is  not  in  the  book  of  Psalms;  for  the 
Lamb,  with  his  marriage  with  the  Millennial 
church,  is  its  burden  or  substance.  The  45th 
Psalm  cannot,  with  any  propriety,  be  applied  to 
this  period;  for  Christ  is  celebrated  in  that 
Psalm  as  a  King,  but  not  as  the  Lamb,  Be- 
sides, it  is  evident  from  the  drift  of  the  Psalm, 
that  the  spiritual  conquests  alluded  to,  were  to 
commence  with  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to 
the  Gentiles,  as  well  as  to  the  Jews ;  but  in  the 
song  which  we  are.  examining,  they  are  cele- 
brated as  consummated,  when  he  should  es- 
pouse the  Millennial  church,  as  a  chaste  bride, 
to  himself 

But  this  is  not  all.  As  the  praises  of  the 
church  militant  on  earth,  and  of  the  church  tri- 
umphant in  heaven,  are  t!ie  same  in  substance, 
as  is  acknowledged  by  Mr.  Reid;  then,  the 
scene  which  John  saw  in  heaven,  or  the  habit- 
ation of  God,  as  recorded  in  the  5th  chapter^ 
is  another  proof  that  we  are  to  take  the  sub- 
stance of  our  songs  of  praise  from  the  New,  as 
well  as  from  the  Old  Testament.     In  that  chap-- 


APPENDIX. 


207 


ter  the  prophet  tells  us,  that  when  the  Lamb, 
who  was  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  took  the 
book  sealed  with  seven  seals  out  of  the  hand 
of  him  that  sat  upon  the  throne,  that  the  four 
living  creatures,  and  the  four  and  twenty  elders, 
fell  down  before  the  Lamb,  having  every  one 
of  them  harps,  and  golden  vials  full  of  odors, 
which  are  the  prayers  of  saints.     "And  they 
sang  a  new  song^  saying,  Thou  art  worthy  to 
take  the  book  and  toopen  the  seals  thereof ;  for 
thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God 
by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  and  nation ;  and  hast  made  us  to 
our  God  kings  and  priests;  and  we  shall  reign 
on  the  earth," — reign  in  a  succession  of  people 
of  a  similar  character.     "And  I  beheld,  and  I 
heard  the  voice  of  many  angels  round  about 
the  throne,  and  the  living  creatures,  and  the 
elders;  and  the  number  of  them  was  ten  thou- 
sand   times   ten   thousand,   and    thousands    of 
thousands,  saying  with  a  loud  voice.  Worthy 
is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power, 
and    riches,  and   wisdom,  and    strength,   and 
honor,   and   glory,  and  blessing.     And  every 
creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth, 
and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in 
them,  heard  I  saying.  Blessing,  and  honor,  and 
glory,  and  power,  be  unto  him  that  sitteth  on 
the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever." 
A  question  naturally  |)resents  itself  here,  the 
correct  answer  to  which  goes  far,  we  think,  in 
deciding  the  disputed  point,— whence  we  are 
to  draw  our  songs  of  praise  to  God.     The 


208  APPExXDIX. 

question  is,  Where  did  the  church  mihtant  on 
earth,  and  the  church  triumphant  in  heaven, 
get  the  subject  matter  of  the  preceding  songs? 
Assuredly,  not  from  the  book  of  Psalms;  for 
Christ  is  no  where  in  that  book  represented  as 
"a  Lamb  slain,  and  redeeming  his  people  by 
his  blood;"  but  from  such  expressions  in  the 
New  Testament  as  these: — "We  have  redemp- 
tion through  his  blood ;  even  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace." — 
"Feed  the  church  of  God,  which  he  hath 
bought  with  his  own  blood."  "And  we  are  re- 
deemed not  with  corruptible  things,  as  silver 
and  gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ, 
as  of  a  Lamb  without  blemish,  and  without 
spot."  And  so  full  was  John  of  this  all-im- 
portant subject,  as  it  would  seem,  for  our  direc- 
tion on  the  point,  that  when  about  to  pen  the 
Revelation,  he,  in  the  name  of  the  church, 
bursts  forth  into  a  similar  song  of  praise  to 
Christ,  as  the  Redeemer:  "Unto  him  w^ho 
loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his 
own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  and  his  Father,  to  him  be  glory  and 
dominion,  for  ever  and  ever."  The  truth  is, 
the  true  church,  under  the  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensation, praised  God  for  a  promised  Re- 
deemer, and  were  saved  by  faith  in  the  pro- 
mise; but  we  have  seen  that  the  true  church 
on  earth,  and  the  redeemed  church  in  heaven, 
praise  him  for  a  Redeemer  who  has  come,  and 
shed  "his  blood  for  the  remission  of  sins;"  and 
shall  we  not  follow  their  example?     Or,  in  or- 


APPENDIX.  209 

der  to  find  acceptance  with  God,  shall  we  say 
with  the  Psalmist,  in  the  66th  Psalm,  '^I  will 
offer  unto  thee  hiirnt  sacrifices  of  fatlings,  with 
the  incense  of  rams;  I  will  offer  bullocks  with 
goats;"  or,  as  the  Apostle  exhorts — "Having 
boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood 
of  Jesus^  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which  he 
hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  vail,  that 
is  to  say,  his  flesh ;  and  having  an  high  priest 
over  the  house  of  God;  let  us  draw  near  with 
a  true  heart,  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having 
our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience, 
and  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water:"  Heb. 
10:19—22. 

We  will  close  this  chapter  by  obviating  a 
few  objections  brought  against  an  evangelical 
Psalmody,  by  Mr.  Reid,  and  others. 

1st.  "The  book  of  Psalms  contains  inspired 
songs;  but  hymns  are  the  production  of  unin- 
spired men."  This  objection,  as  stated,  is 
plausible,  and  by  its  plausibility  has  done  more 
to  unhinge  the  minds  of  well-meaning  but  weak 
persons,  and  to  enlist  them  under  the  standard 
of  a  Judaizing  Christianity,  than  any  thing  else 
that  has  been  said  or  written  upon  the  subject. 
But,  although  plausible,  it  is  highly  sophistical. 
For,  if  we  are  warranted  to  draw  our  songs  of 
praise  to  God  from  the  New,  as  well  as  from 
the  Old  Testament,  as  we  trust  we  have  proved 
by  both  precept  and  precedent,  then,  what  is 
usually  called  a  hymn,  or  a  portion  of  the  Old 
or  New  Testament  correctly  versified,  is  as  in- 
spired a  song  as  any  of  the  Psalms  of  David, 


210  APPENDIX. 

if  the  other  penmen  of  the  Bible  were  in- 
spired, as  well  as  the  king  of  Israel;  but  this 
our  opponents  do  not  deny.  It  is  the  senti- 
ments contained  in  the  portion  versified  that 
makes  it  an  inspired  song;  and  the  circum- 
stance of  its  being  translated  into  prose  or 
verse,  alters  not  its  character,  provided  the 
translation  is  just  and  correct. 

2d.  The  preceding  observations  also  contain 
in  them  a  sufficient  answer  to  what  Mr.  Reid 
says  in  page  250 — "that  it  is  at  least  bordering 
on  hlasphemif^  when  a  man,  without  any  au- 
thority from  God,  and  merely  from  his  own 
hearty  composes  a  religious  song,  calls  it  the 
song  of  the  Lamb,  and  gives  it  to  the  churches 
to  sing  in  the  praises  of  God."  It  is  indeed 
bordering  on  blasphemy,  if  it  is  the  effusions  of 
his  own  heart;  for  nothing  good  can  proceed 
from  the  heart  of  man ;  but  as  just  now  ob- 
served, if  it  is  founded  upon^  and  agreeable 
to  the  word  of  God,  the  sentiments  are  divine, 
and  divinely  inspired,  although  the  order  and 
arrangement  are  human,  as  are  all  Mr.  Reid's 
prayers,  sermons,  and  explanations  of  the 
Psalms,  for  the  benefit  of  the  congregation  be- 
fore they  sing  them,  that  they  may  "sing  with 
the  understanding"  those  parts  that  are  typi- 
cal and  obscure.  And  if  any  of  those  expla- 
nations are  akin  to  his  doctrines  respecting 
"conscience,"  and  they  sing  those  explanations, 
we  forbear  giving  it  a  name — we  leave  that  to 
himself  Mr.  Reid  surely  knows  that  the  Pres- 
byterian church  has  her  system  of  Psalmody, 


APPENDIX.  211 

and  which  has  been  strictly  examined  by  her 
highest  Judicatory,  before  it  was  recommended 
to  the  people,  and  does  not  allow  the  use  of 
any  hymns  in  public  worship,  which  have  not 
been  thus  examined  and  sanctioned;  and  if 
any  of  her  ministers  act  otherwise  in  this  re- 
spect, so  far  they  act  irregularly,  and  impede 
the  progress  and  reception  of  a  sound  evangel- 
ical Psalmody. 

3d.  Mr.  Reid  says,  in  page  77,  'Uhat  the 
Psalms  of  David,  which  contain  the  very  sub- 
stance and  marrow  of  the  gospel,  are  cast  out 
of  the  church  under  the  false  notion  that  they 
are  not  properly  fitted  for  gospel  worship." 

That  the  Psalms  of  David  contain  the  very 
substance  and  marrow  of  the  gospel,  has  been 
asserted  by  others,  before  Mr.  Reid;  but  we 
deny  the  correctness  and  truth  of  the  assertion. 
But  when  we  do  so,  we  protest  against  being 
called  "an  enemy  of  the  book  of  Psalms,"  or 
that  we  wish  to  degrade  them  in  the  smallest 
degree.  On  the  contrary,  we  prize  them  as  a 
precious  part  of  divine  revelation.  But  that 
they  contain  as  clear,  and  as  full  a  view  of  the 
important  and  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
gospel,  as  the  New  Testament,  we  are  aston- 
ished any  man  should  assert  in  the  present  day. 
In  the  following  page,  Mr.  Reid  very  properly 
says,  "that  the  doctrine  of  salvation,  through 
the  free  and  sovereign  grace  of  God,  accord- 
ing to  his  eternal  purposes;  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement;  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity,  &.c.  are 
fundamental  doctrines."  But  where  will  he 
19 


212  APPENDIX. 

find  the  first  of  these  doctrines  clearly  exhib- 
ited and  stated  in  the  book  of  Psalms?  At 
least,  is  there  any  thing  on  this  doctrine  equal 
to  the  1st  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  and  various  other  places?  As  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  atonement,  it  was  indeed  typi- 
fied by  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  bulls  and 
of  goats  in  sacrifice;  but  will  any  man  say  that 
this  is  as  well  calculated  to  appease  the  awak- 
ened conscience,  and  to  induce  the  guilty  sin- 
ner to  exercise  faith  in  Jehovah,  as  a  sin-par- 
doning God  through  Christ,  as  the  passages 
in  the  New  Testament,  to  which  we  have  al- 
ready adverted,  and  others  of  a  similar  charac- 
ter: "We  have  redemption  through  his  blood, 
even  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  according  to  the 
riches  of  his  grace."  "And  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  his  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  A 
Trinity  of  persons,  in  the  divine  essence,  is  in^ 
deed  mentioned  in  the  Psalms;  but  is  a  Trinity 
in  Unity  mentioned  even  once?  or  any  thing 
calculated  to  give  such  views  of  the  cardinal 
doctrine,  as  1st  John  5:7:  "There  are  three 
that  bear  record  in  heaven;  the  Father,  the 
Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  these  three 
are  one."  We  have  no  doubt  respecting  the 
genuineness  of  the  passage. 

In  a  word,  it  is  something  like  an  insult  to 
the  human  understanding,  in  this  age  of  the 
w  odd,  to  say  that  those  parts  of  the  book  of 
Psalms  which  are  typical,  are  as  well  suited 
for  praising  God,  as  various  portions  of  the 
New  Testament.    It  is  saying  that  the  type  is 


APPENDIX.  213 

as  clear  as  the  thing  typified;  and  Mr.  Reicl 
surely  knows  tliat  every  thing  typical,  under 
the  Jewish  dispensation,  is  called  "the  shadow 
of  good  things  to  coine."  In  the  12th  chapter 
of  the  Apocalypse,  the  church,  under  the  pre- 
sent dispensation,  is  symbohzed  by  "a  woman 
clothed  with  the  sun,"  or  with  the  glories  of 
Jesus,  "the  sun  of  righteousness,"  and  having 
"the  moon,"  or  the  Jewish  ritual,  under  her 
feet.  But,  according  to  Mr.  Reid's  views  and 
system  of  Psalmody,  she  ought  to  have  been 
exhibited  as  clothed  with  the  borrowed  beams 
of  the  moon,  and  having  the  clear  Ught  of  the 
gospel  dispensation,  and  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, under  her  feet.  But  when  we  say,  that 
all  that  is  typical  and  local  in  the  Psalms  is  not 
suited  to  gospel  worship  and  praise,  we  yet 
cheerfully  and  unhesitatingly  say,  that  what- 
ever is  devotional  and  preceptive,  is  highly 
suited  to  the  praises  of  God,  and  has  accord- 
ingly been  used  in  all  ages  of  the  church,  and 
we  are  persuaded,  will  be  used  and  relished  to 
the  end  of  time. 

There  is  only  another  objection  to  an  evan- 
gelical Psalmody  remaining,  and  which  we 
think  worthy  of  notice.  It  is  this:  That  the 
Psalms  were  written  in  verse,  but  the  New 
Testament  was  written  in  prose;  a  proof,  say 
the  objectors,  that  it  was  not  designed  for 
Psalmody  or  praise.  But  this  we  must  defer  to 
the  next  and  last  chapter. 


CHAPTER  III. 

GREAT    PART    OF    THC    NEW   TESTAMENT 
WRITTEN    IN    VERSE. 

We  have  said,  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
that  we  would  in  this  obviate  an  objection 
against  an  evangeUcal  Psalmody,  deduced  from 
the  circumstance  that  the  New  Testament  was 
written  in  prose,  and  consequently  not  designed 
for  praise,  as  were  the  Psalms,  which  were 
written  in  verse.  This  objection,  or  argument — 
for  it  partakes  of  both — like  many  others, 
proves  too  much;  for  according  to  it,- the  ob- 
jectors should  use,  in  the  praises  of  God,  the 
Song  of  Solomon—- the  book  of  Proverbs — the 
greatest  part  of  the  book  of  Job — of  the  Pro- 
phecies of  Isaiah,  and  the  Lamentations  of 
Jeremiah,  Slc,  for  they  were  written  in  verse,  as 
well  as  the  book  of  Psalms.  If  it  is  replied, 
that  we  have  evidence,  from  the  titles  of  some 
of  the  Psalms,  that  they  were  used  in  the  Jew- 
ish sanctuary,  but  not  so  with  the  other  parts 
of  the  Old'  Testament,  then  the  objectors 
should  confine  themselves  to  those  Psalms;  for 
there  is  no  evidence  that  the  one-half  of  the 
book  of  Psalms  was  sung  in  the  Jewish  sanc- 
tuary. As  the  objectors  are  in  the  habit  of 
using  the  whole  of  the  Psalms,  the  argument 
19^ 


216  APPENDIX. 

drawn  from  the  title  of  some  of  them,  for  using 
the  whole  book,  and  the  book  alone,  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  praise,  falls  to  the  ground. 

But,  that  the  New  Testament  was  written 
altogether  in  prose,  is  an  assumption  and  not  a 
fact,  as  we  trust  to  make  appear:  then  the  con- 
sequence will  be  that  those  parts,  at  least,  that 
were  written  in  verse,  should  be  used  in  the 
praises  of  God,  as  well  as  those  Psalms,  re- 
specting which  there  is  no  evidence  that  they 
were  used  either  in  the  service  of  the  temple, 
or  of  the  synagogue.  Our  proof  that  a  great 
part  of  the  New  Testament  was  written  in 
verse,  the  reader  will  find  in  the  2d  vol.  of 
Home's  "Introduction  to  the  Critical  Study  and 
Knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  part  2d, 
chap.  10.  And  here  it  may  not  be  unneces- 
sary to  observe,  that  the  author  before  us  had 
no  design  in  drawing  the  consequences  which 
we  have  drawn  from  his  observations  and 
proofs,  but  merely  to  point  out  the  nature  and 
laws  of  Hebrew  poetry,  and  illustrate  them 
by  appropriate  examples;  and  consequently 
must  be  unsuspected  testimony  in  the  eyes  of 
those  who  are  opposed  to  an  evangelical  Psalm- 
ody. Besides,  he  is  a  minister  of  the  church 
of  England,  and  uses  only  Tate  and  Brady's 
version  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  in  the  public 
worship  of  God. 

Mr.  Home  has  shown  from  Bishops  Lowth 
and  Jebb,  and  especially  from  the  latter,  who 
has  investigated  that  subject  more  fully  than 
any  who  went  before  him,  that  the  poetry  of 


APPENDIX.  217 

the  Hebrews  was  not  regulated,  like  that  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  by  what  is  called  rhythm^ 
or  a  certain  number  of  feet  in  each  verse  or 
line,  but  by  what  they  call  parallelisms^  "or  a 
certain  equality,  resemblance,  or  relationship 
between  the  members  of  each  period,  so  that 
in  two  lines  or  members  of  the  same  period, 
things  shall  answer  to  things,  and  words  to 
words,  as  if  fitted  to  each  other  by  a  kind  of 
rule  or  measure."  The  following  example, 
from  Luke  1  :.5*2,53,  part  of  the  song  of  Mary, 
the  mother  of  Jesus,  will  illustrate  this: 

"He  hath  put  down  the  mighty  from  their  seats, 
And  exalted  them  of  low  degree." 
"He  hath  filled  the  hungry  with  good  things, 
And  the  rich  he  hath  sent  empty  away." 

In  this  passage,  it  will  be  observed,  that 
words  answer  to  words;  characters  are  con- 
trasted with  characters;  and,  under  the  divine 
government,  consequences  with  consequences. 
The  mighty  are  contrasted  with  those  of  low 
degree;  the  hungry  or  poor,  with  those  that 
are  rich;  and  the  one  exalted,  while  the  others 
are  debased.  Why  our  author  selected  an  ex- 
ample from  the  New  Testament  only,  as  an 
illustration  of  the  parallelism  of  the  Hebrew 
poetry,  we  do  not  know;  but  he  might  have 
found  abundance  in  the  poetic  parts  of  the 
Old;  for  instance,  in  Psalm  107:40,41:  and  let 
it  be  kept  in  mind,  that  the  length  or  shortness 
of  the  lines  or  verses,  forms  no  part  of  the  laws 
of  Hebrew  poetry. 


218  APPENDIX. 

"He  poureth  contempt  upon  princes; 

And  causeth  them  to  wander  in  the  wilderness,  where  there  is 

no  way." 
"Yet  he  setteth  the  poor  on  high  from  affliction; 
And  maketh  him  families  like  a  flock." 

Our  author  divides  the  paralleHsm  of  the 
Hebrew  poetry  into  parallel  hnes  gradatlonnl., 
parallel  Hnes  antithetic^  parallel  lines  construe- 
tive^  and  parallel  lines  introverted;  and  at  the 
same  time  adduces  passages  from  the  New 
Testament,  as  well  as  from  the  Old,  as  exam- 
ples and  illustrations.  The  plan  which  we 
have  laid  down  for  ourselves  will  not  admit  of 
more  than  an  example  or  two  at  most,  of  these 
different  kinds  of  parallelisms;  and  they  who 
wish  for  further  information  on  the  subject, 
would  do  well  to  consult  the  book  itself.  In- 
deed, we  wouldjiot  have  obtruded  the  proof 
and  illustration  of  this  point  on  the  public,  was 
it  not  that  the  book  is  scarce,  being  seldom 
bought  but  by  students  of  Theology,  for  whom 
it  was  principally  written. 

1st.  "Parallel  lines  gradational  are  those  in 
which  the  sound,  or  responsive  clause,  so  di- 
versifies the  preceding  clause,  as  generally  to 
rise  above  it,  sometimes  by  a  descending  scale 
in  the  value  of  the  related  terms  or  periods,  but 
in  all  cases  with  a  marked  distinction  of  mean- 
ing." This,  he  observes,  is  the  most  frequent 
of  all  the  poetic  parallelisms,  and  he  accord- 
ingly gives  six  examples  of  it;  three  from  the 
book  of  Psalms,  and  three  from  the  New  Tes- 
tament.    It  may  be  sufficient  to  transcribe  an 


APPENDIX.  219 

example  from  the  Psalms,  and  a  corresponding 
one  from  the  New  Testament.  The  example 
from  the  Psahns,  is  the  first  Psalm,  and  as 
translated  by  Bishop  Jebb,  reads  thus: 

"  O  the  blessedness  of  the  man 
Who  hath  not  walked  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly, 
And  hath  not  stood  in  the  way  of  sinners, 
And  not  sat  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful! " 

The  descending  gradation,  or  the  downward 
way  of  vice,  is  here  very  obvious  and  striking. 
The  ungodly — the  sinner — the  scornful.  But 
there  is  also,  in  our  opinion,  an  ascending 
gradation  in  the  way  of  virtue  or  holiness,  in 
the  words — not  sitting — not  standing — and  not 
walking.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  the  corres- 
ponding example,  from  2d  Thess.  2:8,  is  no 
less  obvious  and  striking: 

"Whom  the  Lord  Jesus  will  waste  away  with  the  breath  of  his 

mouth; 
And  will  utterly  destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming." 

Here  the  descending  parallel  lies  in  wasting 
away,  and  then  utterly  consuming ;  the  one 
by  the  breath  of  his  mouth,  and  the  other,  by 
the  bright  appearance  of  his  coming.  But 
although  both  of  these  parallelisms  are  suffi- 
ciently obvious  and  striking,  they  are  equalled, 
if  not  excelled,  by  that  in  Jas.  1:15,  although 
not  adduced  by  our  author.^ 

*  Since  we  wrote  the  above,  eight  years  ago,  we  have  since 
found  it  in  Bishop  Jebb's  book,  entitled,  "Sacred  LiTKaATURE:" 
page  389. 


220 


APPENDIX. 


"Then  when  lust  hath  conceived,  it  bringfeth  forth  sinj 
And  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth  death." 

Our  author's  second  example  of  the  grada- 
tional  parallehsm  is  taken  from  the  24th  Psalm, 
3d  and  4th  verses,  and  is  of  the  ascendino' 
character.  The  translation  is  that  of  Bishop 
Jebb,  as  all  his  examples  are,  and  which  are, 
in  our  opinion,  both  elegant  and  correct: 

"Who  shall  ascend  the  mountain  of  Jehovah, 
And  who  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place? 
The  clean  of  hands,  and  the  pure  in  heart." 

Here  the  gradation  is  very  obvious.  The  clean 
of  hands — the  pure  in  heart — ascending— stand- 
ing— the  mountain  of  Jehovah— his  holy  place. 
The  first  corresponding  parallel  from  the  New 
Testament,  which  our  author  adduces,  is  Mat- 
thew 10:5,6: 

"To  the  way  of  the  Gentiles  go  not  off, 

And  to  any  of  the  Samaritans  go  not  in; 

But  proceed  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel." 

Although  the  ascending  climax  is  sufficiently 
obvious  in  this  example,  yet  in  our  opinion,  it 
is  neither  so  obvious  nor  so  striking,  as  in 
Rom.  8:29,30;  and  which  we  also  found  in 
Bishop  Jebb's  book,  since  we  wrote  first,  and 
which  we  will  give,  in  his  simple  and  beautiful 
translation,  page  389: 

"Whom  he  foreknew,  he  also  foreordained; 
And  whom  he  foreordained,  them  he  also  called; 
And  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified; 
And  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified." 


APPENDIX.  221 

What  a  striking,  gracious,  and  glorious  climax 
is  here!  Predestinating — calling — justifying — 
glorifying.  There  is  nothing  in  all  the  poetic 
gradations  of  the  Old  Testament,  superior,  if 
equal,  to  this.  Indeed,  before  we  met  with 
our  author,  we  had  been  long  persuaded,  from 
the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  the  sentiment, 
and  the  peculiar  force  of  the  diction  of  this 
chapter,  that  it  was  written  in  verse  of  some 
kind  or  other;  but  being  then  not  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  laws  of  Hebrew  poetry,  we 
were  unable  to  prove  it.  And  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  observe  here,  that  although  the  New 
Testament  was  written  in  Greek,  the  writers 
were  Hebrews  or  Jews;  and  as  was  to  be  ex- 
pected, were  governed  by  the  laws  and  idioms 
of  the  Hebrew  language,  and  their  rules  in 
writing  poetry. 

In  page  465,  Mr.  Home  has  adduced  from 
Bishop  J  ebb.  Matt.  7f24 — 27,  as  a  specimen  of 
stanzas,  consisting  of  a  number  of  lines,  and 
which  are  at  the  same  time  striking  examples 
of  both  the  ascending  and  descending  paral- 
lelisms: 

"Whosoever,  therefore,  heareth  my  words,  and  doeth  them, 
I  will  liken  him  to  a  prudent  man, 
Who  built  his  house  upon  the  rock; 
And  the  rain  descended, 
And  the  floods  came, 
And  the  winds  blew. 
And  fell  upon  that  house; 
And  it  fell  not;  for  it  was  founded  on  a  rock." 


2*22  APPENDIX. 

"And  every  one  hearing  these  my  words,  and  doeth  them  not, 
Shall  be  likened  to  a  foolish  man, 
Who  built  his  house  on  the  sand; 

And  the  rain  descended. 

And  the  floods  came, 

And  the  winds  blew. 

And  struck  upon  that  house; 
And  it  fell,  and  the  fall  thereof  was  great." 

These  are  indeed  beautiful  and  striking  ex- 
amples of  the  ascending  and  descending  paral- 
lehsms  of  Hebrew  poetry;  but  they  are,  in  our 
opinion  equalled,  if  not  excelled,  by  a  similar 
ascending  parallehsm  in  the  concluding  verses 
of  the  8th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, although  not  adduced  by  Bishop  Jebb: 

"Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors, 
Through  him  that  loved  us: 
For  I  am  persuaded, 
That  neither  death, 

Nor  life, 

Nor  angels, 

Nor  principalities, 

Nor  powers, 
Nor  things  present, 
Nor  things  lo  come, 

Nor  height, 

Nor  depth. 
Nor  any  creature, 

Shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
Which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

We  will  only  add  on  this  point:  That  as 
ihis  species  of  parallelism  is  the  most  frequent 
in  the  poetic  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  it 
was  therefore  to  be  expected  that  it  w^ould  fre- 


APPEiXDIX,  223 

quently  occur  in  the  poetic  parts  of  the  New. 
And  this  is  the  case;  and  our  author  has  ac- 
cordingly marked  down  the  following  passages 
where  it  occurs,  and  the  attentive  reader  of 
the  New  Testament  can  supply  many  more: 
Matt.  5:45—7:1,2—20:26,27—24:17,18;  Mark 
4:24;  Luke  6:38;  Rom.  5:7;  James  1:17— 
4:8—5:6;  Rev.  9:6—22:14. 

2d.  The  second  kind  of  parallelism  which 
distinguishes  the  poetry  of  the  Hebrews,  is 
what  our  author  calls  "-parallel  lines  anti- 
t/ietic,'^''  "and  consists  in  two  lines  correspond- 
ing, the  one  to  the  other,  so  that  the  second  is 
contrasted  with  the  first;  sometimes  in  expres- 
sion, and  sometimes  in  sense  only."  The  il- 
lustrating example  is  taken  from  Prov.  10:1. 

"A  wise  son  rejoiceth  his  father; 

But  a  foolish  son  is  the  grief  of  his  mother." 

Although  our  author  has  not  furnished  us 
with  an  example  of  this  kind  of  parallelism, 
from  the  New  Testament,  the  following  pas- 
sage from  Mark  16:16,  is,  we  think,  as  strik- 
ingly antithetic  as  the  one  adduced: 

"He  that  believeth^  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved; 
But  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 

In  Prov.  10:1,  a  wise  son  and  a  foolish  son; 
and  the  one  being  a  joy  to  his  father,  and  the 
other  a  grief  to  his  mother,  are  opposed  each 
to  the  other;  and,  in  Mark  16:16,  believing 
and  not  believing,  and  salvation  and  damna- 
tion, are  as  obviously  antithetical. 
20 


224  APPENDIX, 

3d.  "Parallel  lines  constructive,  are  when  the 
parallelism  consists  in  the  similar  form  of  con- 
struction; in  which  word  does  not  answer  to 
word,  and  sentence  to  sentence,  as  equivalent, 
or  opposite;  but  there  is  a  correspondence  and 
equality  between  the  different  propositions,  in 
respect  to  the  shape  and  turn  of  the  whole  sen- 
tence, and  of  the  constructive  parts;  such  as 
noun  answering  to  noun,  verb  to  verb,  negative 
to  negative,  and  interrogative  to  interrogative." 
The  example  of  this  parallelism,  adduced  by 
our  author,  is  Psalm  19:8 — 11,  in  Bishop 
Jebb's  beautiful  translation: 

"The  law  of  Jehovah  is  perfect,  restoring; 

The  testimony  of  Jehovah  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple; 

The  precepts  of  Jehovah  are  right,  rejoicing  the  heart; 

The  commandment  of  Jehovah  is  clear,  enlightening  the  eyes; 

The  fear  of  Jehovah  is  pure,  enduring  for  ever; 

The  judgments  of  Jehovah  arc  truth;  they  are  just  altogether, 

More  desirable  than  gold,  or  than  much  fine   gold; 

And  sweeter  than  honey,  or  the  dropping  of  honey  combs," 

We  would  here  again  observe,  that  although 
our  author  has  not  adduced  under  the  proper 
head,  a  passage  from  the  New  Testament,  as 
corresponding  with  this  species  of  parallelism; 
he  has,  however,  adduced  a  passage  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  that  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  took  fragments  from  the  Old 
and  combined  them  into  one,  and  which,  we 
think,  is  a  striking  example  of  the  foregoing 
constructive  parallelism.  The  passage  alluded 
to  is  Rom.  1 1 :33 — 35,  in  Bishop  Jebb's  trans- 
lation, where  he  has  also  given  us  the  passage 


APPENDIX.  225 

arranged  in  Greek,  according  to  the  Jaws  of 
Hebrew  verse,  and  which  he  has  done  in  all  his 
quotations  from  the  New  Testament,  but  which 
we  have  omitted  as  not  necessary  to  our  pre- 
sent design: 

*'0  the  depth  of  the  riches,  and  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  1 
How  inscrutable  are  his  judgments, 
And  untraceable  are  his  ways; 
For  who  hath  known  the -mind  of  the  Lord- 
,  Or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor? 
Or  who  hath  first  given  unto  him, 
And  it  shall  be  repaid  to  him  again?" 

Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  the  design  of 
both  of  the  inspired  poets  was  alike,  and  their 
poems  alike,  with  this  difference,  that  the  lan- 
guage of  the  latter  is  more  grand  and  majestic, 
because  the  theme  was  so.  In  the  one,  the 
law  of  God  is  celebrated  as  perfect,  sure,  right, 
clear,  pure,  true,  more  desirable  than  gold,  and 
sweeter  than  honey  dropping  from  the  comb; 
and  in  the  other,  the  wisdom  and  knowledge 
of  God  are  celebrated  as  inscrutable,  untrace- 
able ;  that  no  one,  man  or  angel,  hath  known 
the  mind  of  the  Lord;  no  one  hath  been  his 
counsellor,  and  no  one  hath  first  given  unto 
him,  that  it  might  be  repaid  to  himself  again. 

4th.  The  last  kind  of  parallelism  by  which 
the  poetry  of  the  Hebrews  was  characterized, 
is  what  our  author  calls  "parallel  lines  intro- 
verted; or  stanzas  so  constructed,  that  what- 
ever be  the  number  of  lines,  the  first  line  shall 
be  parallel  with  the  last;  the  second  with  the 
penultimate,  or  last  but  one,  and  so  throughout, 


^26  APPENDIX. 

in  an  order  that  looks  inward ;  or  to  borrow  a 
military  phrase,  from  flanks  to  centre."  The 
following  quotation  from  Bishop  Jebb,  from 
Prov.  23:15,16,  will  illustrate  this  parallelism: 

"My  son,  if  thy  heart  be  wise, 
My  heart  also  will  rejoice; 
Yea,  my  reins  will  rejoice, 
When  thy  lips  speak  right  things!" 

The  corresponding  examples  from  the  New 
Testament,  arc  taken  from  Matt.  7:6,  and 
2  Cor.  15:16.  We  shall  transfer  the  former 
only: 

"Give  not  that  which  is  holy  to  the  d6gs; 
Neither  cast  your  pearls  before  the  swine, 
Lest  they  trample  them  under  their  feet; 
Lest  they  turn  about  and  rend  you." 

The  reader  will  have  a  clear  idea  of  this  spe- 
cies of  parallelism  by  reading  both  examples 
in  the  following  manner,  and  which  he  will  see 
is  the  order  of  construction: 

"My  son,  if  thy  heart  be  wise. 
When  thy  lips  speak  right  things, 
My  heart  also  will  rejoice; 
Yea,  my  reins  will  rejoice." 

"Give  not  that  which  is  holy  to  the  dogs. 
Lest  they  turn  eibout  and  rend  you; 
Neither  cast  ydur  pearls  before  the  swine. 
Lest  they  trample  them  under  their  feet." 

Bishop  Jebb  also  adduces  another  parallel- 
ism of  this  introverted  kind,  ''in  which  the 
third  line  forms  a  continuous  sense  with  the 


APPENDIX. 


227 


first,  and  the  fourth  with  the  second."  The 
example  is  from  Eph.  4:18: 

"Being  darkened  in  the  understanding; 
Being  alienated  from  the  life  of  God, 
Through  the  ignorance  which  is  in  them, 
Through  the  blindness  of  their  hearts." 

The  reader  will  see  that  the  order  of  interpret 
tation  is  as  follows;  and  also  that  a  knowledge 
of  these  parallelisms,  if  not  indispensably  ne- 
cessary, is  yet  of  great  use  for  understanding 
and  explaining  correctly,  a  number  of  passages 
in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments: 

"Being  darkened  in  the  understanding, 
Through  the  ignorance  which  is  in  them; 
Being  alienated  from  the  life  of  God, 
Through  the  blindness  of  their  hearts." 

But,  not  only  has  Mr.  Home  produced  from 
Bishops  Lowth  and  Jebb,  examples  from  the 
New  Testament  of  all  the  different  parallelisms 
that  characterize  the  Old  Testament  inspired 
poets:  he  has  also  produced  examples  from  the 
New  Testament  of  the  different  kinds  of  stan- 
zas used  by  them — as  couplets,  quatrains,  and 
stanzas  of  five,  six,  or  more  lines.  iVnd  al- 
though there  are  parts  of  the  New  Testament 
that  were  written  in  prose,  as  well  as  of  the 
Old,  we  have  no  doubt  but  that  if  the  subject 
was  thoroughly  examined,  there  would  be 
found  as  much  of  the  New  Testament  written 


228 


APPENDIX. 


in  verse,  as  of  the  Old,  according  to  the  com^ 
parative  size  of  the  volumes.'^ 

From  the  whole  then,  the  argument  for  sing- 
ing the  whole  book  of  Psalms  in  the  worship 
of  God,  and  nothing  else,  because  it  was  writ- 
ten in  verse,  is  invalid;  and  the  objection 
against  an  evangelical  psalmody,  based  on  the 
assumption  that  the  whole  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  written  in  prose,  is  invahd  also. 
And  yet  had  that  been  the  case,  it  would  not 
have  lessened  to  ourselves,  in  the  smallest  de- 
gree, the  arguments  for  an  evangelical  psalm- 
ody, obviously  deducible  from  2  Tim.  3:16; 
Eph.  5:19,20;  Col.  13:16,17;  and  as  we  have 
shown,  from  Rev.  5:9,10;  15:2 — 4,  and  19: 
1 — 7.  It  is  now  left  with  the  moderate  and 
discriminating  of  the  different  Protestant  sects: 
it  is  left  with  Mr.  Reid  himself,  and  his  warm- 
est friends  to  say,  if  his  interpretation  of  the 
seven  vials,  in  the  16th  chapter  of  the  Reve- 
lation, some  of  which  he  tells  us  are  to  be 


*  The  reader  may  be  able  to  form  a  tolerably  correct  judgment 
on  this  point,  from  the  following'  table  of  chapters,  and  portions 
of  chapters,  adduced  by  Bishop  Jebb,  as  examples  of  the  different 
kinds  of  Hebrew  poetry. 


Matthew. — The 

whole  of  the 

Ephesians,  parts  of 

chapter  3 

sermon   on  the 

mount, 

and 

Colossians, 

do.        2 

parts  of  chapt 

3r 

16 

1  Thessalonians, 

do.        1 

Mark,  parts  of  c 

hapter 

6 

2  Thessalonians, 

do.         1 

Luke, 

do. 

19 

Philemon, 

do.         1 

John, 

do. 

6 

Hebrews, 

do.        7 

Acts, 

do. 

7 

James, 

do.        5 

Romans, 

do. 

6 

Peter, 

do.        1 

1  Corinthians, 

do. 

8 

John, 

do.        3 

2  Corinthiaxs, 

do. 

3 

Revelation,  whole  of  do.     9 

Galatians, 

do. 

1 

and  chapter 

18 

APPEXDIX.  229 

poured  out  on  the  advocates  of  an  evangelical 
psalmody,  and  of  Bible,  Missionary,  Tract,  and 
Sabbath  School  Societies,  is  not  at  the  same 
time,  impious  and  ridiculous.  Of  all  the  sects 
who  use  an  evangelical  psalmody,  and  are  en- 
gaged in  the  present  day  in  extending  the  bor- 
ders of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  in  sup- 
pressing prevailing  immorality,  there  is  none 
against  whom  the  advocates  of  a  Jewish 
psalmody  have  directed  their  arrows  more 
steadily,  and  with  a  more  virulent  aim,  than 
"the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  United  States." 
By  some  we  have  been  represented  as  not  only 
semi-socinians,  but  semi-infidels,  and  by  others, 
"virulent  enemies  of  the  book  of  Psalms;"  but 
it  remained  for  Mr.  Reid  to  discover,  that 
some  of  the  vials  of  the  wrath  of  God  are  to 
be  poured  out  upon  us  without  mixture,  be- 
cause we  use  an  evangelical  psalmody  in  the 
public  worship  of  God.  "As  far  as  it  is  pos- 
sible," we  have  endeavored  "to  live  in  peace" 
with  our  brethren  who  differ  from  us  on  this 
point.  But  hitherto  we  have  found  it  not  pos- 
sible: nothing  therefore  remains,  but  in  the 
spirit  of  meekness  to  defend  ourselves  as  well 
as  we  can.  This  was  our  design  in  writing 
the  three  preceding  chapters;  but  as  to  the  va- 
lidity of  the  defence,  and  the  spirit  with  which 
they  are  written,  it  does  not  become  us  to  say: 
the  reader  will  judge  on  those  points  for  him- 
self 

We  conclude  by  just  observing,  that  we 
never  had  the  most  distant  idea  of  writing  or 
publishing  any  thing  on  the  prophecies  until 


230  APPENDIX. 

after  we  had  prepared  a  reply  to  Mr.  Reid's 
views  on  psalmody.  As  we  designed  to  draw 
our  principal  arguments  for  an  evangelical 
psalmody  from  a  new  source — the  spiritual 
songs  recorded  in  the  book  of  the  Revela- 
tion— a  cursory  view  of  the  general  prophe- 
cies in  that  book,  appeared  necessary,  for  ex- 
hibiting those  arguments  in  their  full  force.  In 
taking  this  view,  the  investigation  of  one  pro- 
pliecy  led  to  the  investigation  of  another,  as 
necessarily  connected  with  it,  until  finally  it 
assumed  the  size  of  this  litde  book.  As  eight 
or  nine  years  have  elapsed  since  we  published 
our  views  of  the  general  prophecies  of  Daniel 
and  John,  in  "The  Christian  Herald,"  and 
as  the  providence  of  God,  exercised  over  the 
nations  and  the  church  since  that  time,  seemed 
rather  to  countenance  'an  run  counter  to 
those  views,  we  thought  we  would  republish 
them,  with  some  additions;  with  the  hope  that 
it  might  excite  others  to  shed  more  light  on  the 
important  subject,  and  rectify  our  errors  and 
remedy  our  defects.  For  although  we  firmly 
believe  that  our  general  views  respecting  the 
church  of  God,  and  her  implacable  enemy, 
Hlie  Man  of  sin^^^  are  correct,  yet  we  are  far 
from  supposing  that  we  may  not  have  erred  in 
details,  or  in  applying  some  prophecies  to  past 
and  passing  events.  Should  any  then  be  ex- 
cited to  point  out  our  errors  or  defects,  and 
shed  additional  light  on  the  interesting  subject^ 
we  will  rejoice,  and  consider  our  labors  in 
writing  more  than  compensated. 

THE     END. 


( 


>:;r^.A.:-*^^^_ 


DATE  DUE 


HIGHSMITH      #  45220 


